Wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel will make his long awaited return in the Indian Test team after nearly eight years. He’s called to replace the injured wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha’s for the third test between India and England in Mohali. The third test of the series will take place at the PCA Stadium in Mohali starting 26 November.
BCCI announced that Wriddhiman Saha will be rested for the third Test starting Saturday. Saha sustained a left thigh strain during the recent Visakhapatnam match, as a precautionary measure he is rested. Ever since MS Dhoni retired from the Test Cricket in December 2014, Saha has been India’s dependable wicket-keeper.
Saha, who’s injured, will be looking to make him comeback as soon as possible. An statement from BCCI said,
As a precautionary measure, Saha has been advised to rest and will not play in the next Test match.
Earlier the selection committee announced the Indian team squad for the remaining 3 Tests against the England. Due to bad performance, Gautam Gambhir is axed from the squad. He was replaced by KL Rahul in the 2nd Test. To provide stability to the Indian pace attack, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has recovered from his injury is also included in the squad.
Parthiv Patel played his last test in August 2008 against Sri Lanka, he was chosen in the playing eleven after Dhoni opted to skip the three-Test tour. He played his last ODI match for India in October 2011 against England.
Parthiv has been a consistent run-scorer batsman in domestic cricket. Speaking to TOI Sports, he said,
I’m happy to be back, it feels great when performance is rewarded.
Parthiv has performed tremendously in the domestic cricket. In the 2008-09 and 2009-10 domestic seasons, he made over 800 runs, 946 runs in the 2012-13 domestic seasons, 594 runs in 2013-14. Last two seasons, he scored over 400 runs.
