IPL 2017: I don't worry about India selection, says Parthiv Patel

2016-2017 is a season Mumbai Indians opener Parthiv Patel will look back at with satisfaction and surprise. The southpaw had a tremendous season, both individually and in terms of his teams. Captaining a young Gujarat side, Parthiv led them to their first ever Ranji Trophy back in January. He scored a match-winning 143 in the second innings.

Yet, Mumbai Indian’s highest run scorer in IPL 2017 now finds himself missing from the cream of the crop. Last week, it was announced that Dinesh Karthik would replace the injured Manish Pandey in the upcoming Champions Trophy. Parthiv, though, remained unperturbed by the management’s decision.

“Honestly, I don’t worry about selection anymore. I am old enough and have been around for years. I don’t play cricket to get selected, I am enjoying my game. We won the Ranji Trophy, then I made a return to the Test side.”

There’s no doubt that Karthik deserved his spot. He too had a stupendous Ranji season, averaging 54.15 over the course of the competition. Understandably, Parthiv chose to look at the positives rather than ponder on what’s not right.

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“Winning and playing well in the IPL was special, so if I keep doing it, the rest of the things will follow. I don’t worry about who has been picked or who has not been picked. That’s something which is not my job. If I do well, the rest of the things will be taken care of,” he said.

At the end of 2016, Parthiv returned to the Test arena against England after a hiatus of eight years, an experience that he holds close to his heart, given the fact that he wasn’t originally part of the squad but later called upon to replace the first-choice keeper Wriddhiman Saha.

The southpaw earned a recall to the Indian Test team for a game against England

“I’ve probably had a dream season, making my Test comeback after eight years – it was always my dream to play one Test match before I finish my career,” he stated.

Lastly, Parthiv reflected on his sublime season with the Mumbai Indians. Apart from claiming the trophy, he was by far the most consistent batsman for his side, notching up 395 runs in 16 matches.

“Winning the IPL is very special, you have to make sure the team stays together. Rohit and the coaching staff did fantastically well throughout the season. Getting runs was important as well, every time we’ve had a good opening partnership, we’ve always gone on to score well.

“If we start well in the T20 format, it helps the likes of Rohit and Pollard to play freely,” he signed off.