Senior India cricketer Parthiv Patel has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Wednesday. At the age of 17, Parthiv made his international debut in 2002 in a Test series against England. Overall, the 35-year-old represented India in 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and 2 T20Is.
Parthiv last wore the prestigious Indian jersey in 2018 during a Test match against South Africa in Johannesburg. The wicketkeeper-batsman took to Twitter to announce his retirement. He issued a lengthy statement and thanked former India skipper Sourav Ganguly (who was his first captain) BCCI, Gujrat Cricket Association, and his family, friends and fans.
“Today, I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket, and as I bring down the curtains on this 18-year-old cricketing journey, I feel heavier with gratitude towards many. The BCCI showed a generous amount of confidence and faith in a 17-year-old boy to play for India. I have enormous gratitude towards them for being a guiding force and hand holding me, in the formative years of my young career,” Patel wrote in his statement.
“I’m thankful to all the captains I’ve played under. I’m especially indebted to Dada (Sourav Ganguly), my first captain, who showed immense faith in me.”
“I am full of gratitude to The Gujarat Cricket Association, my home, for solidly rallying around me throughout my journey, and the leadership role conferred upon me couldn’t have been more joyous and fulfilling than our team winning all formats of the game,” he added.
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) December 9, 2020
The Ahemdabad-lad had a successful domestic career as he scored over 11,000 First-Class runs in 194 matches. Parthiv had the honour of leading Gujarat to their maiden Ranji Trophy win in the 2016-17 season as well as their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph.
Furthermore, Parthiv was also a part of six different teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he managed to amass 2848 runs and score 13 fifties in 139 games.
