4 Indian Players who are on their last tour of Australia

2. Parthiv Patel

Since the arrival of Dhoni, Parthiv Patel has played in only 6 Test matches in the last 15 years

Matches – 25, Innings -38, Runs -934, Avg – 31, 50s-6, Catches – 62, Stumpings – 10

Parthiv Patel made his debut at the age of 17 in 2002. In his first Test match against England at Nottingham, Parthiv though got out for a duck in the first innings, remained not out on 19 off 60 balls in the second innings to save India that Test. He had his opportunities in his first three years before MS Dhoni came on to the Test scene in 2005.

But Parthiv Patel could not make use of those opportunities as he managed to score only four fifties in his first 19 Test matches. The reasoning at that time was had he performed reasonably well in the initial stages of his career, Dhoni would not have got his chance in the first place.

Since the advent of MS Dhoni, Parthiv had played in six Test matches only spread over a period of 15 years. In India’s last tour of South Africa, he played in two Test matches and scored 19, 19, 2, & 16.

Parthiv Patel is 33. In his first nine Test matches, Rishabh Pant has scored 696 runs at an average of 50. After his stupendous performances since his debut, Pant is now the first choice wicket-keeper for Team India in Test matches.

With the likely return of Wriddhiman Saha from an injury lay-off, Parthiv Patel’s career might finally come to an end. He won’t be around till India’s next tour of Australia in two years time.