What a summer it has been for the Indian Cricket team in England. A summer of misery, misfortune and ignominy. Not only has the fall from the top of ICC Test ranking humbled the mighty Indians, it has also left them battered and bruised both physically and mentally. There have been pulled hamstrings, twisted ankles, broken fingers and bumped skulls. Those will be healed in time, mended back as the Lord made them. But the dents in the mind will be for there to stay. Suresh Raina will have nightmares about the booming bouncers, Sehwag will wonder why his bat kept on fishing outside the off stump, Yuvraj will not know if his any good at the five day stuff and Harbhajan Singh will search in vain for answers to his lost fang. As the tour has progressed the casualty list has grown longer but not longer than the faces of millions of Indian fans. As if the whitewash in the Tests had not been a wound deep enough, England managed to push the dagger further still with a thrilling win in the lone T20. Perhaps given this disaster raised to the power ten performance of the Indian team one cannot blame Sanjay Manjarekar for sounding out the defeatist statement that it is not fair for the Indian team to win the ODIs. In the back drop of this dark and sombre past when Parthiv Patel roars down the pitch to pull a towering Tim Bresnan out of ground imagine how many beats do the heart of the Indian fan skip. More than one for sure.
If size mattered in Cricket, Parthiv Patel would be playing a different game. Thankfully, it is the vertically challenged that have set Cricket grounds on fire. When Parthiv first came into the Indian Test team at the tender age of 17, commentators and viewers alike had him confused for a lost schoolboy. Navjot Singh Sidhu cut many jokes at the expense of the little man to great applause. He did not disappoint anyone but neither did he make himself proud. In spite of the trust of the captain he could not quite make a case for himself. Then Dhoni appeared on the scene and the wicketkeeper position of the team was permanently occupied. Since then chances have come in trickles and Parthiv has been ordinary at best. But this is not an article to discuss the Parthiv the wicketkeeper who failed to keep his place, this is a tribute to Parthiv the batsman who sneaked into the team and took everyone’s breath away, Patel style.
Do Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina look alike? Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson certainly thought so, hence the short stuff came thick and fast…and went higher and faster. Anybody watching the Durham rubber when Parthiv was playing might as well have thought Brian Lara has decided to don the Indian colours. For a moment millions back in India wondered whether it was the same English attack that had India running short of tourniquet supply only a week and a half ago! It certainly was the same as Rohit Sharma found to his pain and agony. But before that, when Parthiv occupied the crease, it was as ordinary an attack as any. For once the English bowlers were not sure of their line and length and the ability to bowl 90 mph did not look like such a good thing. In a clear hangover from the Test matches they stuck to the idea of banging it short only to see the tiny Indian swivel like a helicopter rotor on his heels putting snorter after snorter away to the boundary. For all those who had their spirits low because of the absence of Gambhir and Tendulkar, these strokes must have come as unexpected bonus. And as if the disdain with power was not enough, the stylish manoeuvres towards third man showed that Parthiv Patel was not all brawn. When this mincing of the bowlers was going on one felt oddly surprised at the repeated mention of the big nought in the 100s columns in Patel’s record book, in all forms of one day cricket. How could someone who can pummel these first rate English pacers with such consummate ease not have scored a century against the weak Indian provincial bowlers on the batting paradise of Indian pitches is indeed a case to ponder on. Equally peeving was the commentators mistrust on Patel’s ability to clear the boundary. The first complaint could have been taken care of but for a mere five runs. The second one though did not go abegging.
Come Rose Bowl, Southampton and Patel Scope was extended to sixes. Tim Bresnan came steaming in, downed a short, saw Patel come steaming at him back and heave; ball crosses the boundary, all aerial. Tim Bresnan walked back, an unhappy big man. But it would go on to happen to him once more in the same over, four balls later. This time the ball does not rise as much, so Patel gets under it, pulls it up like a master, bisecting deep square leg and deep mid wicket. Brian Lara couldn’t have done it any better. Commentators, the pocket rocket can launch cricket balls out of big grounds, mind it.
It is sweet Karmic justice that Parthiv Patel is finding his touch in the same place where he first entered international arena, England. Getting selected at 17 and dropped at 19, Parthiv was always a story unfinished. He is still 26 and has just got wings under his arms. May this be the second beginning of a dream that had turned comatose.
If size mattered in Cricket, Parthiv Patel would be playing a different game. Thankfully, it is the vertically challenged that have set Cricket grounds on fire. When Parthiv first came into the Indian Test team at the tender age of 17, commentators and viewers alike had him confused for a lost schoolboy. Navjot Singh Sidhu cut many jokes at the expense of the little man to great applause. He did not disappoint anyone but neither did he make himself proud. In spite of the trust of the captain he could not quite make a case for himself. Then Dhoni appeared on the scene and the wicketkeeper position of the team was permanently occupied. Since then chances have come in trickles and Parthiv has been ordinary at best. But this is not an article to discuss the Parthiv the wicketkeeper who failed to keep his place, this is a tribute to Parthiv the batsman who sneaked into the team and took everyone’s breath away, Patel style.
Do Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina look alike? Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson certainly thought so, hence the short stuff came thick and fast…and went higher and faster. Anybody watching the Durham rubber when Parthiv was playing might as well have thought Brian Lara has decided to don the Indian colours. For a moment millions back in India wondered whether it was the same English attack that had India running short of tourniquet supply only a week and a half ago! It certainly was the same as Rohit Sharma found to his pain and agony. But before that, when Parthiv occupied the crease, it was as ordinary an attack as any. For once the English bowlers were not sure of their line and length and the ability to bowl 90 mph did not look like such a good thing. In a clear hangover from the Test matches they stuck to the idea of banging it short only to see the tiny Indian swivel like a helicopter rotor on his heels putting snorter after snorter away to the boundary. For all those who had their spirits low because of the absence of Gambhir and Tendulkar, these strokes must have come as unexpected bonus. And as if the disdain with power was not enough, the stylish manoeuvres towards third man showed that Parthiv Patel was not all brawn. When this mincing of the bowlers was going on one felt oddly surprised at the repeated mention of the big nought in the 100s columns in Patel’s record book, in all forms of one day cricket. How could someone who can pummel these first rate English pacers with such consummate ease not have scored a century against the weak Indian provincial bowlers on the batting paradise of Indian pitches is indeed a case to ponder on. Equally peeving was the commentators mistrust on Patel’s ability to clear the boundary. The first complaint could have been taken care of but for a mere five runs. The second one though did not go abegging.
Come Rose Bowl, Southampton and Patel Scope was extended to sixes. Tim Bresnan came steaming in, downed a short, saw Patel come steaming at him back and heave; ball crosses the boundary, all aerial. Tim Bresnan walked back, an unhappy big man. But it would go on to happen to him once more in the same over, four balls later. This time the ball does not rise as much, so Patel gets under it, pulls it up like a master, bisecting deep square leg and deep mid wicket. Brian Lara couldn’t have done it any better. Commentators, the pocket rocket can launch cricket balls out of big grounds, mind it.
It is sweet Karmic justice that Parthiv Patel is finding his touch in the same place where he first entered international arena, England. Getting selected at 17 and dropped at 19, Parthiv was always a story unfinished. He is still 26 and has just got wings under his arms. May this be the second beginning of a dream that had turned comatose.
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