- B.V.Swagath

Ever since, the Selectors for some strange reasons decided to shut the door for the best wicket keeper in the country - Nayan Mongia , the WICKET KEEPER berth was an open for all . From then it looked like a game of Musical Chairs which saw the KEEPER slot go from the likes of Sameer Dighe to M.S.K.Prasad to Vijay Dahiya to Deep Dasgupta to Ajay Ratra and now it seems like a chubby young kid has made this slot his own for years to come . Yes, that little chubby fellow is none other than Parthiv Ajay Patel .

It was June 2002 and India were touring England after 6 long years. They had to play as many as 6 first class games and 4 test matches. The selectors learning from the mistake they had made in 1996 where they had only one specialist keeper - Nayan Mongia , opted for two specialists in Ajay Ratra and Parthiv Patel. If somebody's misfortune is somebody's gain, then yes it became a reality in the case of little Parthiv. Parthiv Patel was infact picked in the team as an understudy to Ratra and also to give some cover to Ajay Ratra in the county games. A finger injury to Ajay Ratra kept him on the sidelines for the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge and that gave Parthiv Patel an early break in Test Match cricket. It was indeed an early break as Parthiv hasn't played a single first class match in India. With that a new record in Test Match History was established as Parthiv Patel became the youngest wicket keeper ever at the age of 17 years and 153 days to don the gloves.

 Parthiv had to sit in the dressing room on Day1 of his first test with India ending the day's play at 210/4 on a rain shortened day. His first appearance in a test match actually came on the 2nd Day of this match with the fall of the 6th Indian wicket that of Ajit Agarkar's and the score at 285/6. The English fast bowlers were getting ready to get the throat of the young debutant with intimidating rib snorters. Soon the young man came to know how cruel Test Match Cricket can be after facing 10 balls as he succumbed to an awkward rising delivery from the giant Steve Harmison. Parthiv Patel walked back to the pavilion in complete disbelief and was still in search of his first run in Test Match Cricket. India were all out for 357 and finally it was time for Parthiv Patel to don the gloves. His keeping skills were being watched by millions of cricket fans, but young Patel wasn't overawed by that occasion and quietly did his job behind the stumps. Patel had to wait for a gruelling 57 overs behind the stumps for his 1st victim in Tests until Nasser Hussain sweeping at Harbhajan, presented the wicket keeper with his first Test scalp as the ball ballooned up off his glove. Patel followed that with a neat catch down the legside off Agarkar's delivery to end Micheal Vaughan's brilliant knock of 197. England made 617 and Parthiv in his very first Test match had to stay down for as many as 145 overs !!! India had to save this match and it was a gutsy young man in Parthiv Patel who was withering the storm with an unbeaten 19 which lasted over an hour and 20 minutes . Since then Parthiv has never looked back and has made this Wicket Keeper's berth his own atleast in Test Matches.

His first break in One Dayers came during the forgetful tour of New Zealand in January 2003. Parthiv Patel was a part of the World Cup Squad but could never get a game. The biggest tribute he got was when Dravid said that he had learnt a lot about keeping from the little man. Parthiv got to play one dayers only when the team management decided to give Dravid a break from the relentless job of batting and wicket keeping . However in tests, he has been a regular since the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge in 2002 and has played some gutsy knocks including a dashing 62 he made against the likes of Lee and Gillespie at Sydney.

However, question marks still loom on his ability to sustain the intensity that is required at the highest level of the game. Is Parthiv Patel ready to play International Cricket? Every game that he played recently has had a miss-stumping or a dropped catch or a simple let off for byes. All these mistakes have cost India a few matches and can we continue to afford such lapses in the future? Isn't it better off to have this talented youngster mature as a wicket keeper at the domestic level for a couple of years rather than have him in the big league so early. So many of these questions are left unanswered. May be Ganguly and the team management have a better idea than us. Inspite of all these, Parthiv Patel is definitely going to be an exciting prospect in World Cricket as time passes by.