Parthiv Patel gets Test recall after eight years

New Delhi : After a gap of eight years and four months Gujarat wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel has earned a recall to the Indian Test squad. The southpaw will replace injured first-choice Wriddhiman Saha for the Mohali Test against England. 

Parthiv, at the age of 17 years became Test cricket's youngest wicketkeeper in 2002. The induction of Patel came about 15 hours the India squad was announceed with only one change. Selectors dropped Gautam Gambhir fom the squad to include  Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

Parthiv, 31, was ahead of other candidates to fill Saha's role because he offers the option of a left-hand batsman. Also, it is understood that the selectors felt it was too early to hand a debut to the 19-year-old Rishabh Pant, who has hit a triple-hundred for Delhi this Ranji Trophy season.

The other big contender was MP's Naman Ojha, who played the last Test that Saha missed. Ojha missed the start of the Ranji Trophy with injury. 

Tamil Nadu's Dinesh Karthik, who has also had a good recent run with the bat, is believed to have lost to Parthiv because of the latter's better glove work and the left-hand batting variation.

Parthiv, who last played Test cricket in August 2008, also had a fine start to the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy with the bat for Gujarat. He scored 415 runs in his first eight innings at 59.28, with three fifties and a hundred. The century came in the previous round of games, in Gujarat's second innings against MP. It was a brisk, unbeaten knock: 139 not out off 170 balls.