Happy to be back in the Indian dressing room: Parthiv Patel

EVER SINCE MS DHONI entered the international fray, the charismatic wicket-keeper batsman made life extremely difficult for other Indian keepers. Such was Dhoni’s brilliance on the field with both willow and leadership; there was clearly no slot available in the Indian side for any other wicket-keeper. Unfortunately, Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel felt the brunt of it. 

Over the years, these two keepers have very rarely found a spot in the Indian team, owing to Dhoni’s indisputable attitude and performance. That said, on a few occasions, injuries and rest from the game opened the door for these keepers to get into the Indian team. 

Yesterday, once again Dhoni’s injury scare gave the Gujarat Keeper Patel the opportunity to sneak into the Indian side for the Asia Cup T20. That said, there is still no guarantee that the diminutive keeper will get a chance to feature in the playing 11. 

Before leaving for Bangladesh, Patel told TOI, 

"I have been doing well in domestic circuit for quite sometime now. Getting a callup after many years gives me an immense sense of satisfaction and I am happy to be back in the Indian dressing room,"

Patel enjoyed a great time with both bat and gloves in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy and has also shown signs of being aggressive with the bat at the top while playing for the Mumbai Indians in IPL. 

The 30-year-old further added, 

"I am in T20 mode already and am willing to do whatever is required for the team.”