Parthiv Patel ready to contribute in any role for the national team

Out of favour, Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel has gone through a lot in his short international career. He announced himself in the scenario in style but could not stick around for long. Patel took up the challenge of proving himself in domestic cricket and after immense hard work, he rang the bell on the door of the national selectors once again.

The interview:

Speaking to Hindustan Times Parthiv Patel termed his debut as a dream. Patel made it into the national team at a very young of 17.

“At a young age, you usually don’t worry about anything. Same was the case when I was 17. It was just a dream come true for me (to represent India). I never sat and thought how big an opportunity was that. It was just a good time for me. The time of my life,” said Patel.

“The main goal (now) is to improve my game, where I can get better, where I can help my team win tournaments. I want to be a better player every day.” added Patel.

Parthiv Patel’s career took a hit with the arrival of the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Parthiv got the opportunity to feature in Tests for India in 2002 and 2005 but MS Dhoni’s introduction brought down the curtains in Patel’s career. However, Parthiv came into the radar once again last year, as Wriddhiman Saha suffered a thigh injury. He also won the Ranji Trophy and was a part of the victorious Mumbai Indians team in their 3^rd IPL triumph.

“As a cricketer you have a few dreams,” said Parthiv.

“One of them is to play Test cricket. The other one to play Ranji Trophy. And now the IPL — a tournament you want to be a part of and that too of a winning team. To get such a reward within an year’s time is very satisfying,” he mentioned.

The 32-year-old claimed that he has been following the same technique when it comes to wicketkeeping. However, Parthiv highlighted the fact that he intends to concentrate on batting and wicketkeeping equally.

“I haven’t changed much in wicket-keeping as far as technique is concerned. The only thing that I have done is realistic practices — in terms of taking catches, effecting stumpings. In terms of wicket-keeping on a rough surface, I have changed my practice routine in a way that I don’t do both skills at a time, in one session. There is equal importance giving to both batting and wicket-keeping.

“As far as batting is concerned, I’ve made a few changes — especially in terms of initial movements. And there is always a conscious effort of scoring hundreds. I’ve always maintained the mentality that whenever I’m in the middle as a wicket-keeper, I’m a specialist wicket-keeper. Whenever I’m in the middle as a batsman, I’m a specialist batsman,”.

Parthiv Patel has tremendous competition from other players like Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik and Wriddhiman Saha who have performed exceedingly well in recent times. But the Ahmedabad born batsman is not bothered about it.

“When you are playing in a big country like India where 27-28 teams participate (in the domestic circuit), competition will always be there. You always have to be on your toes when want to play for your country. It doesn’t come that easy. Competition gets the best out of all of us. Everyone knows whoever gets picked is good enough to play.

“I’m ready for any role the team management wants me to do. Whether it is opening, batting in the middle-order, playing as keeper-batsman, keeper-opener, I’ve enough experience to adjust to the conditions. On top of that, my belief has helped me stay afloat,” concluded Parthiv Patel.