Parthiv Patel reminds people he is only 31 after making a Test comeback

Parthiv Patel who has got a golden opportunity to prove his credentials again in the international circuit is the only player from the current team to have played in the Sourav Ganguly-John Wright era of Indian cricket. Parthiv was brought in as a replacement for the injured Wriddhiman Saha and the southpaw would be seen donning the Indian colours after 8 years.

He played his last Test way back in 2008 and since then he has missed 83 Tests, the most by an Indian before making a comeback. The stats doesn’t bother Parthiv as he knows his international career was cut short because of a certain MS Dhoni who has been an asset for his team especially in ODI cricket and there was no replacement for the modern legend.

“It’s great news to play for India again. It’s been eight years and I have always been working hard and striving to stay fit. The belief has always been there,” he told India Today.

The wicket-keeper batsman will travel from Hubli where he was playing in a Ranji game, to Belgaum before taking a flight to Mumbai and then taking an interconnecting flight to reach Chandigarh. Though the journey might be hectic but Patel won’t mind travelling these kilometres and air miles in a quest to play for the Indian Test team again.

Speaking on the prospects of being a part of the Indian team which is currently ranked No.1 in Test cricket Parthiv said, “I have heard a lot of great things about the current Indian team. I haven’t played India for a while but have played with all of them in franchise cricket and it will be great to join forces for national duty”.

When asked how much of an old pro he is, Parthiv reminded people that he was only 31 and lots of cricket was left in him. “It’s not that I have to remind people that I am only 31 yet. I made an early international debut but have been performing consistency at domestic cricket” the southpaw said.

Parthiv made his Test debut against England way back in 2002 under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. The Gujarat skipper has scored 415 runs in the ongoing Ranji season so far at an impressive average of 59 but his 20 matches stop-start Test career never took off as Dinesh Karthik came in the reckoning before Dhoni making the position his own.

Parthiv was part of the Indian side when they toured Sri Lanka in 2008 when DRS was introduced for the first time in international cricket and he will be pretty sure that the team will be relying on him for the close calls.

“Yes, I have done it before. It’s not rocket science, using DRS. I will use my experience and try to help the team best,” he concluded.