Wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel has said that he lost his place in the side and that’s why MS Dhoni attained a spot in the team.
Patel made his India debut while the team was in crisis and eagerly searching for a stumper back in 2002. The left-handed batmsan chipped in with some decent scores but didn’t played any significant knock.
“I don’t see myself as unlucky to be playing in the Dhoni era. I started my career before him, and I had the opportunity to perform before him,” Parthiv said while speaking on 100 Hours 100 Stars – a video campaign by Fever Network.
“Dhoni came into the team because I did not have a couple of good series and I was dropped. I know people can say it just to gain sympathies that I was born in the wrong era. But I don’t believe that,” he added.
Dhoni who got his chance in 2004 in the side had some failures with the bat but the management persisted with him and the right-handed batsman acknowledged it with a massive 148 against arch-rivals Pakistan that helped him cement his place in the side.
India then had a miserable run in the World Cup 2007 as the team bowed out of the tournament in the first round itself. They lost to Bangladesh and then Sri Lanka to get eliminated. India’s only success came against Bermuda in that tournament.
The side had to face a lot of heat but got an opportunity to turn the fortunes for themselves as the inaugural World T20 was also scheduled that year and Dhoni was handed over the command of the team with the senior players rested.
The young team did respond well and lifted the trophy to rub off the result that they got in the 50-over World Cup. Dhoni later led India to World Cup 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013 wins as well and became the second Indian captain to win the ODI World Cup and the first skipper to win all the ICC trophies.
The aggressive batsman though has been out of action for quite sometime.
