The photograph of the chubby faced debutant Parthiv Patel walking through a guard of honour after saving a Test against England in 2002 is still preserved in the wicketkeeper’s album.

It was a moment that was to live on for years. But, ironical as it may be, the architect of that euphoric script slowly began to fade away from public memory. Thrown into the grind of domestic cricket after a series of bloopers, he was suddenly playing to empty stands. Then in 2006, he made a comeback into the Indian team touring Pakistan, and was dropped subsequently. He says that was the toughest time of his career. “I was quite low then. I didn’t feel like going to the ground. But I quickly picked myself up. My family was a big source of support,” Parthiv says.

Time to shine

After some good performances in Ranji season, he knew the IPL was an opportunity to showcase what he has been doing away from the limelight. And the two fifties through the tournament, including a match-winning knock in the semi-final, and a 38 in the final showed that Parthiv the batsman was still very much alive. In his early days, he played his strokes mostly on square of the wickets. But, as was evident in the IPL, his array is much wider now. And the wagon-wheel covering all sides of the park, he says, is the difference.

“I have worked hard on my batting. I knew that to play a big innings, I had to play straight. So I practised a lot with plastic balls, and that paid off,” the 23-year old says, back home before he leaves for Australia, captaining for the Emerging Players’s Tournament.

... contd.