Parthiv could be retained as batsman

If there was a shot in the Mohali Test that said “you may as well shake hands now” it was Parthiv Patel’s upper cut off Ben Stokes for four with India needing 48 runs to win. Parthiv was playing for India for the first time in eight years and he gave a fine account of himself, cracking 67 off 54 balls, including a lofted cover drive for four which became the winning runs.

“I think he really stood out in this game for me as a batsman,” India’s captain, Virat Kohli, said.

Parthiv had also made 42 in the first innings opening the batting at short notice after KL Rahul was ruled out aggravating a forearm injury in the nets, to go with four catches and a stumping. So was there a chance that he might stay with the team as a back-up batsman even if Wriddhiman Saha comes back to keep wicket for the Mumbai Test, starting on December 8?

“You never know, there are all kinds of possibilities,” Kohli said. “The way he approached both innings, it was amazing to see. That’s where experience from the first-class level comes into play. He’s someone who’s played [for India] at a very early age and he’s come back and the intent he showed in both innings, I think, just deflated the opposition. Credit to him to go out there and …

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