Parthiv Patel: Feels good to have contributed to Bumrah, Panchal's success

More than talking about himself, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel revels in his side’s Ranji Trophy achievements.

Published : Feb 20, 2020 20:01 IST , Valsad

FILE PHOTO: Parthiv Patel scored his 27th First Class century on the opening day of Gujarat’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal versus Goa at Valsad on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Parthiv Patel scored his 27th First Class century on the opening day of Gujarat’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal versus Goa at Valsad on Thursday.

Ever since making his Test debut at a tender age of 16, he has represented India with distinction in all three formats. He has been a part of the Indian Premier League champion side. He has captained Gujarat to its maiden Ranji Trophy title three seasons ago. And towards the fag end of a career spanning almost two decades, he has impressed the viewers with his analysis as a television expert. What then drives Parthiv Patel to get into training mode and put in the hard yards on the domestic circuit?

The veteran - a fortnight shy of turning 35 - just smiles and responds immediately. “Obviously you have reached a stage where you have to take it season by season. Before the start of every season, you sit down with coaches and the family and see if you can last yet another season. As long as I am enjoying and maintaining that balance, there’s no reason I should stop playing,” he tells Sportstar .

That he trains hard is visible in the fact that despite notching up his 27th First Class century during his unbeaten 118 on the opening day of Gujarat’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal versus Goa, there isn’t an iota of fatigue on Parthiv’s face. It also reflected when in the penultimate over, despite being at the crease for well over three hours, he pushed Chirag Gandhi and converted a single into two runs.

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But more than talking about himself, Parthiv revels in Gujarat’s achievements. “I think winning games and all of that is more important. Doing it year after year is even more important. More than anything else, going out there and playing cricket is something I always enjoy, doesn’t really matter what level of cricket it is. I was looking forward to going past 11,000,” he says.

“Besides, (I am) having fun on and off the ground, enjoying myself, passing on experience and seeing some of the youngsters going ahead and doing well for India - like Jasprit (Bumrah) and Axar (Patel), Priyank (Panchal) has done well for India A and Siddharth (Desai) has played India Under-19. You feel good to have contributed a little bit in their success.”