All the Patels who played international cricket

Have you ever wondered how many Patels have played cricket for their countries?

This is not as simple as you may think, as you will find persons with this surname in several countries outside India. And we are not counting Patil, which sounds similar but is a different community

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patel

While the majority of Patels are Hindu, there are some Muslim Patels as well, such as Ajaz Yunus Patel who is in the news now. There was also Mohammad Munaf Patel who played for India earlier.

In the following tables, the data is corrected up to 04 Dec 2021.

We start with Test players:

A total of 11 players. The most capped one is Kenya-born New Zealand player DN (Dipak) Patel with 37 Tests. For India, it is PA (Parthiv) Patel with 25 Tests. He is believed to be the youngest Test wicketkeeper. The current players are AR (Axar) for India and AY (Ajaz) for New Zealand.

The first Test player was JM (Jasu) who made his debut in 1955. Although he had a short career, he is remembered for his contribution to India’s first win against Australia in 1959 with 9 wickets for 69 in an innings and 14-124 in the match.

Incidentally, Ajaz Patel finished with 10-119 and 4-106 in the ongoing Test, which gives him match figures of 14-225.

Then we have ODI players:

19 players here.

Apart from the Test-playing countries, there are representatives from Canada, Kenya and the USA. Canada and Kenya do not have ODI status today, but we count their players anyway.

There is some overlap with the Test players, as many have played in both formats.

And T20I players:

There are 23 players here. Apart from the Test and ODI-playing countries, we have players from Malawi, Lesotho, Seychelles, Panama, Chile, Uganda, Bulgaria and Czechia.

Probably it is more appropriate to consider only the 13 who played for Test and ODI teams.

The final tabulation excludes players from teams which have never played Tests or ODIs:

We thus finish with a total of 24 players. Note the overlaps, as several have played in two or even three formats.

Oddly, Ajaz has played in Tests and T20Is but not ODIs

Four wickets for none

The bowling record of four wickets for no run in any international cricket match occurred recently:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-womens-world-cup-2017/engine/match/1085956.html

where SA’s captain Dane van Niekerk was instrumental in dismissing the West Indies team of 48 in an ODI in the Women’s World Cup.

There have been many cheap 4-wicket hauls in women’s ODIs:

Most of the names would be quite unfamiliar to male cricket followers. The previous record of 4 wickets for 1 run was held by an Indian bowler in an ODI against South Africa in the 2005 World Cup.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/67380.html

And few of us would have heard of the record holder Deepa Marathe .

We now look at the corresponding records for 4-wicket hauls in men’s ODIs:

The record was 4 for 3 by PV Simmons. It is interesting to note that the first few names (Simmons, Dilshan, Yuvraj and Sehwag) were all primarily batsmen whose bowling was secondary.

However, 4 for 0 has been recorded several times in first-class cricket. Bowlers who have achieved this include Lala Amarnath and, more recently, Axar Patel in 2015. More about this here:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/axar-patels-feat-4-wickets-for-none-3/

This also gives details of the best 4-wicket analyses in Tests, headed by the unlikely AG Cremer of Zimbabwe.

 

The Hardik Patel cricket team

Breaking news: Hardik Patel’s followers to stage protest at ODI venue in Rajkot:

http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/saurashtra-cricket-association-seeks-id-proof-for-indian-south-africa-odi-tickets/

and

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat/sca-requests-patidars-not-to-make-rajkot-odi-a-platform-for-their-agitation/

Not sure if the Patels would get into demanding reservation in cricket teams. In case they did, here is all the information they need.

Like Smiths, Browns and Joneses, Patels have played for several countries in international cricket: India, New Zealand and England in Tests plus Kenya and Canada in ODIs/T20Is.

We start with the Test players:

9 players from three countries.The best Test performer overall would be Kenya-born Dipak Patel, followed by Brijesh Patel (who lived mainly in Bangalore) and Parthiv Patel from Ahmedabad (who remains the youngest Test wicket-keeper). Munaf Patel and Jasu Patel had their moments, with the latter holding the then innings and match bowling records for India which helped them to defeat Australia for the first time. These records stood for over a quarter century. And Rashid Patel is one of the unfortunates who played their only Test without scoring any runs (a pair) or taking wickets (though he did take a catch).

The only century is by Brijesh (though Dipak has a 99). Six fivers among them (three by Dipak although Jasu has the best figures of 9/69) as well as a tenner (14-124 by Jasu).

Now for the ODI players:

Here we have representatives from Kenya and Canada as well. India’s Axar Patel is there too, while Munaf Patel was one of the unsung heroes of India’s World Cup win in 2011.

Parthiv Patel has the highest score of 95 here, while England’s Samit Patel is the only one with a fiver.

Now we come to the T20I players who are considerably fewer:

All 5 countries mentioned above are still represented here. The most matches (22) have been played by Rakap of Kenya, the highest score is 88* by Hiral of Canada and best bowling (3/17) by Axar of India (a true multinational sharing of honours)

Axar Patel also took 4/0 in a FC match against South Africa A recently.

Hardik and his friends would realize that their compatriots have done well enough in cricket (particularly those who lived outside India).

Axar Patel’s feat: 4 wickets for none

With Hardik Patel grabbing the limelight, it is good to see another Patel doing something more constructive such as helping India A to win an unofficial Test against South Africa A – even if it was a ground deep in the forests of Kerala far from any city.

Until now he has been considered more of a fringe player despite having played over 20 ODIs and T20Is without doing anything memorable, though he is remembered more for the X in his first name.

His 4 wickets for none helped reduce his opponents to 76 all out, giving India A an innings victory as well as a series victory. He had earlier taken 5-92 and scored 69 not out in the same match.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/892977.html

Four wickets for none gives him a share in the world record for the best 4-wicket record, which was also achieved by 8 others including Lala Amarnath (who was 47 years old at the time).

This was a fairly respectable South Africa A side which included 7 Test players and 2 others who had played in T20Is until then.

It is also interesting to see the best 4-wicket hauls in Tests, especially when the record is held by a relatively unknown player from one of the minor Test teams. The second and the third on the list had reasonable Test careers but are forgotten now. And Appleyard’s 4-7 was the key to New Zealand’s unwanted record of 26 all out, while Dilshan added centuries in both innings to his 4-10.