THIS was his first Test on home ground and Ahmedabad lad Parthiv Patel certainly gave the local crowd a lot to cheer for. Coming in after Rahul Dravid’s double century, the young hero’s innings — though short — was packed with action.
His entry itself made the cheering spectators go wild. Playing some aggressive shots, he hooked and pulled superbly making an unbeaten 29 off 24 balls in the company of Saurav Ganguly. His knock included five sizzling hits to the fence. Even Jacob Oram could not unsettle Parthiv, who appeared to be just half his size. The medium-pacer was hit for boundaries thrice in one over. A frustrated Oram even tried some sledging but the Amdavadi was in no mood to back down.
Receiving vociferous support from the crowd each time he took strike, Parthiv would have provided some more thrilling moments had Ganguly decided not to declare the innings after his ton.
After displaying his skill with the willow, Parthiv showed that he was no mean hand with the glove, giving Zaheer Khan his second wicket by pouching Lou Vincent with a diving catch to his right.
Watching from the stands were more than 30 members of his family, all former teammates of the Under-17 and Under-19 squads and over 35 neighbours from Dhanasuthar ni Pol from where Parthiv began his cricketing journey.
It seemed his sister Kinjal’s prayers had worked. Right through the match, she sat with eyes closed, praying hard for her brother.
Parthiv’s school, the Vidyanagar High School, declared an ‘unofficial’ holiday with most of the staff members, including the school principal, in the stands. Many schoolmates purchased tickets to watch him bat.
PC Darji, English teacher and cricket in-charge of Vidyanagar School, was thrilled to watch his student play with confidence against experienced international cricketers. “I have been watching him right from the beginning when he joined our school in Standard VII. He showed immense talent, was always steady and concentrated well. That’s the reason he’s come up so fast.”
Ganguly, too, could not help but praise Patel. “Parthiv played really well. It was a good innings from him. If he keeps doing it consistently, it will be really good for the team.”
Amen! Says every Amdavadi.