Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The announcement came after Parthiv did not feature in any game for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), while he has been out of contention for Team India, for quite some time now.
The 35-year-old took to his Twitter handle, where he uploaded a long post, thanking all his friends and family, as well as Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA), for their support, throughout his career. He also came up with a special thanks for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), making him one of the youngest debutants for Team India.
He made his debut at the age of 17 during a Test against England in Nottingham, in 2002. Since then, he also went on to represent the side in Australia, in the longest format. Besides being a classy wicketkeeper, he was also a reliable batsman, known for his robust defensive techniques that frustrated strong Aussie pacers, like Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.
The southpaw from Ahmedabad made his debut for Gujarat in 2004-05. He has since then racked up 11,240 First-Class runs in 286 innings at a healthy average of 43.39. As for Tests, he has scored 934 runs in 38 innings at an average of 31.13, including six half-centuries. He was also a healthy batsman in the ODIs, scoring 736 from 34 innings at an average of 23.74, including four half-centuries, while in List-A, he scored 5,172 from 182 innings at an average of 29.72.
However, his stint in the shortest format has not been that impressive. In 200 innings, he scored 4,300 runs at an average of 22.87, while he played just a couple of games for Team India in the format, scoring 36 runs. He went on to play for six teams in the IPL, scoring 2,848 runs in 137 innings at an average of 22.6. He is a three-time IPL winner, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
Meanwhile, following his retirement, tributes poured in. Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was one of the first to wish, having played with the lad during his India days.
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