Former India wicketkeeper Batsman Parthiv Patel has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Wednesday.
Patel took to Twitter for announcing his retirement from all forms of the game “On this day, as I pause and reflect to assess how far I have come the biggest wish I have is for my father to have been standing beside me, at the closure of my journey as a cricket player, as he has thru most of my life and careerâ€.
“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 toward 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 said in his long Twitter post.
“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.
“I feel at peace having played the game in its truest tenets, with dignity and in the spirit of the game and more importantly with great camaraderie. As I walk away a proud man, having fulfilled more dreams than I thought possible, I hope to be remembered with that thought and find your support for my future endeavors.”
“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.
The 35-year-old represented India in 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and 2 T20Is having made his international debut as a 17-year old in 2002.
Patel scored over 11,000 runs in 194 first-class games, with 27 centuries and 67 half-centuries.
Patel was Test cricket’s youngest wicket-keeper when he made his debut in England in 2002 and continued to have a stop-start journey at the international level.
He also had the honour of leading Gujarat to the maiden Ranji Trophy win in the 2016-17 season as well as their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy win.
