Parthiv Patel Injures Finger During Ranji Clash Against Bengal

The skipper of the Gujarat Ranji Trophy team, Parthiv Patel injured his middle finger on his left-hand while keeping wickets during the ongoing Ranji Trophy Quarterfinal clash against Bengal at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday. The incident unfolded five minutes before the lunch was taken.

Parthiv flinched in pain as he fell to the ground after unsuccessfully collecting a delivery behind the stumps. The southpaw left the field immediately and didn’t return for the rest of the day 4. In his place, Anuj Rawal came in as a substitute and kept wickets for Gujarat’s for the remaining part of the day.

“He got hit twice or thrice on his finger, and it was hurting badly. Not sure what the update is on his injury though,” Gujarat middle order batsman Manprit Juneja was quoted as saying by the reporters following the day’s play in Jaipur.

However, Gujarat head coach Vijay Patel confirmed that it is only a minor injury and wouldn’t take too long to heal. Parthiv has been called back to the Indian squad for the tour of South Africa as a backup keeper for Wriddhiman Saha. The southpaw has been a veteran of the domestic circuit and has been around the circuit for 15 years.

He is an experienced campaigner who might be the ideal 2^nd choice wicket-keeper for unfamiliar conditions like South Africa. Patel last played for India in December 2016 when he was the backup keeper for Saha during the home Test series against England which the home team won by a 4-0 margin.

Parthiv opened the innings during two Tests and returned with impressive scores and was hardly troubled by any of the English bowlers. However, he wasn’t able to convert his starts into big ones. He kept well behind the stumps and emerged as a frontrunner for Saha’s backup for the tour of South Africa.