Parthiv Patel, one of the youngest to have played Test cricket for India at the age of 17, declared on Wednesday his retirement from all formats of the game, three months shy of his 36th birthday.
Parthiv, who made his Test debut under Sourav Ganguly, aged 17 years and 153 days, played 65 international games for the country, including 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and two T20 Internationals.
“Today, I announce retirement from all forms of cricket and as I bring down curtains on this 18 year-old cricketing journey, I feel heavier with gratitude for many,” the 35-year-old Parthiv said in a statement on his official twitter and instagram account.
The left-handed batsman scored almost 1,700 runs (1696) across formats with 934 runs (6 half centuries) coming in the longest style.
In ODIs, he scored 736 runs with four half-century and a top score of 95. In Tests, he carried out 72 dismissals, which included 62 catches and 10 stumps.
Parthiv burst onto the scene at the beginning of 2002, when he was sent to England to play India A in South Africa just before he made his Ranji Trophy debut.
“The BCCI has displayed a generous amount of trust and confidence in a 17-year-old boy to play for India. I have deep appreciation to them for directing me and taking my hand in the formative years of my young career,” said Parthiv.
In reality, he played his first Ranji Trophy after he was dropped
Parthiv Patel called his first Test captain Sourav Ganguly a “leader in true sense” along with the legendary Anil Kumble and said their influence in his life went beyond the cricketing arena.
“I would always hold Sourav Ganguly as a leader in true sense with his man management skills. Sourav and Anil Kumble were great leaders and they made me the kind of person I am,” Parthiv said.
“I still have the Test cap with my name wrongly printed ‘Partiv’ that Dada gave me. The victories at Headingley (2002) and Adelaide (2003-04) and the half-century opening the innings at Rawalpindi will be my favourite memories.”
He said that retirement was on his mind for the last one year and that the timing couldn’t have been better.
