IPL 2018: Parthiv Patel Happy To Be Back In RCB

India Test player, Parthiv Patel, got a buyer in the IPL auction in the second go when Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him at a price of Rs 1.70 Crore. His name was called out today, again, after he went unsold yesterday and this time, he drew the attention of Mumbai Indians and RCB and in the end, it was the latter who successfully bid for him.

Patel will be making a comeback for RCB having played for the franchise in 2014. He will be joining India captain, Virat Kohli, there.

Parthiv Patel seemed to be quite happy after he was purchased by RCB and also sent out a message for the franchise –

Very happy to be back @RCBTweets for the ipl…#PlayBold

— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) January 28, 2018

He is one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen in the T20 league. In 119 matches, Parthiv Patel has scored 2322 runs and taken 60 catches along with 14 stumpings. He also holds the record of playing for the most number of franchises in IPL, i.e. six. He has also played for the now-defunct franchise, Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Presently, he is a part of the India Test side and was with the team in South Africa. He played the second and the third Test of the series but could not do much with the bat. He just scored 56 runs in four innings and was also sloppy behind the wickets, on few occasions.

On the fourth and the ultimate last day of the third Test, he suffered a finger injury during the last session and was replaced by Dinesh Karthik.

Karthik was called in the Test squad as a replacement of Saha after he was ruled out of the series.

India lost the Test series by a margin of 2-1 but salvaged pride by defeating South Africa in the third and the final Test. Both the teams will now be playing six-match ODI and three-match T20I series, which starts on February 1.

Talking of IPL, the season opener will be played on April 4 while the final will be held on May 27. Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will host both the competitions.