Parthiv scores 5th ton on-the-trot

When MS Dhoni cemented his place behind the stumps in the Indian team last year, it seemed that the rest of the wicket-keepers in the country might have to stop dreaming of an India cap.

When MS Dhoni cemented his place behind the stumps in the Indian team last year, it seemed that the rest of the wicket-keepers in the country might have to stop dreaming of an India cap. But Dinesh Kaarthick did a smart thing and moved in front of the stumps to be a successful Test opener. Another discarded keeper Parthiv Patel seems to be taking a leaf out of Kaarthick’s book.

His 161 not out on Day Two of the Irani Trophy meant that Patel had scored his fifth consecutive century of the season. Suddenly, that rarity of having three ‘keepers’ in the national side seems like an eventuality. The wicketkeeper’s authoritative opening statement meant Rest of India finished at 292/4 in reply to Mumbai’s first innings score of 453.

But Patel should thank Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane —who dropped him in slips when on 20— for yet another hard knock on the selectors’ door. Before this game, Patel had scored 591 runs from five India A games. The knock was significant considering the collective failure of the Rest of India top order. While Aakash Chopra (0), Mohd Kaif (18), Suresh Raina (17) and S Badrinath (29) couldn’t last on the wicket for long, Patel took things in his hands. His 161 runs came in just 204 balls, which had 26 boundaries in it and he is also engaged in an unbeaten 142 runs stand with Manoj Tiwary (56 batting). Cut, pull, and sweep were part of Patel’s arsenal as he concentrated on the square boundary.

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He, however, played down the importance of his innings. “I just played my natural game. The wicket was flat and so I was enjoying my game. I have played against these bowlers, so I have an idea about their plan,” said Parthiv. Ask him about his future plans and he first talks about the job at hand and later goes to draw the bigger picture. “I want to carry on from here and try to play an unbeaten innings. You need to keep performing and every think will be taken care of,” he says.

Meanwhile, Mumbai medium-pacer Rajesh Verma, who got into the side after Avishkar Salvi was ruled out because of viral fever, scalped Chopra first and later uprooted Raina’s stumps with a deadly incutter. Ajit Agarkar trapped Kaif in front of the wicket and the score was 64 for 3. Badrinath seemed to be in fine touch but he fell to left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla. However, all this didn’t stop Patel from playing his natural aggressive game.

Earlier, in the day, Mumbai packed up their innings at a score of 453 with last two wickets adding 94 runs. Overnight batsman Iqbal Abdulla struck an unbeaten 56 while Ramesh Powar made 45.

Brief scores: Mumbai 453 all out (Ajinkya Rahane 52, S Kukreja 110, A Nayar 118, Ramesh Powar 45, Iqbal Abdulla 56 not out; R Bose 3 for 106, I Sharma 3 for 58) vs ROI 292 for 4 in 70 overs (P Patel 161 n.o., M Tiwary 56 n.o.; Rajesh Verma 2 for 49).