I can’t say that I was unlucky, I got into Team India before MS Dhoni: Parthiv Patel
Former Indian national team player Parthiv Patel said that he was unlucky to lose his place in the Indian national team, as he made his debut before MS Dhoni, and that he was unable to take advantage of this opportunity.
Team India’s search to find a long-term wicketkeeper-batsman in the 2000s ended on MS Dhoni, who donned the 3-D cap during his 15-year long international career. Apart from doing the wicketkeeping job, Dhoni led the team for a decade and also contributed with the bat.
A number of wicketkeepers made their India debuts in the 2000s but none of them could retain his spot for long. One of them was Parthiv Patel, who lost his place to Dhoni in the long run. Patel was tipped to be the next big thing in Indian cricket and had already played for India before making his Ranji Trophy debut.
But he was dropped in 2004 and stayed out of the national squad for long. He played one Test in 2008 before making another India Test comeback in 2016 – 2 years after Dhoni’s retirement.
Patel, who is now a member of Mumbai Indians backroom staff, recently said that he wasn’t unlucky at losing his place to Dhoni as he was given 19 Tests before the former India captain made it to the national squad.
“Honestly speaking, I don’t look at it that way (whether he was unlucky). I had the first crack at the Indian team, before Dhoni. I was dropped because my performances were not up to the mark in international cricket,” Patel said on The Curtly & Karishma Show.
“Then MS Dhoni came in. I can’t say that I was unlucky because I did not get to play more. I had already played 19 Test matches before getting dropped. I also cannot say that I did not get enough opportunities. 19 Test matches is a lot.”
Since Dhoni was also the captain, there was no room for any wicketkeeper-batsman to come into the national squad until he was a member of the side. Even though Patel, Dinesh Karthik, Saha and Rishabh Pant made it national squad during Dhoni’s active days, they only got to play as a specialist batsman.
Patel, who was a member of the first-ever Indian team to win a Test Series against Australia Down Under, played 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and 2 T20Is. He scored 934 runs in Tests, 736 in ODIs and 36 in T20Is. He also played under Dhoni in IPL.
