Parthiv Patel is one of the only four cricketers apart from captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Yuzvendra Chahal in the current Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) squad who was part of their set-up when the IPL franchises last traveled to UAE in 2014. The IPL 2014 was jointly hosted by India and UAE and the first leg was held in the Emirates due to general elections in India.

The left-hander Parthiv Patel was released after playing only the 2014 season for RCB and was bought back ahead of 2018. In between these four years, he made a comeback to the Indian side after eight years and kept wickets besides opening the batting. He has featured in only 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and 2 T20Is but is yet to score a century.

Parthiv Patel On Role As A Senior Player

Parthiv Patel who ages 35 last played a Test in August 2008 before making comeback in 2016 after making his debut as a 17-year-old against England in 2002 at Trent Bridge. His last Test came in 2018.

It was the same with RCB, he slid down to middle order in 2018 then got back to opening the batting permanently last year and had his most impactful season in IPL, scoring 373 runs at a strike rate of 139.17. He has so far featured in 139 matches where he scored 2848 runs averaging a modest 22.6.

“We’ve played here in 2014 but six years is a long time. The world is different, nothing is the same,” Parthiv told Hindustan Times in an exclusive chat ahead of IPL 2020.

A lot has changed from 2014 keeping aside the corona-virus pandemic. Virat Kohli has graduated to the very best batsman currently as he averages over 50 across all formats. AB De Villiers has retired from international cricket and Yuzvendra Chahal has established himself as one of India’s leading spinners in white-ball limited-overs cricket.

Parthiv Patel makes come back In Team India as a back up for MS Dhoni

Virat Kohli was only 12 when Parthiv Patel made his India debut in 2002 and AB De Villiers was still two years away from donning the South African jersey. Parthiv Patel confessed that he is now part of the leadership group of RCB.

“Leading the side comes naturally, there are a lot of young players (in the RCB squad), who are quite comfortable chatting with me. I try and help them out, make sure they are in good space.” adds Parthiv, who led Gujarat to their Ranji Trophy title in 2017.

After the left-hander’s superb last season with the bat, no questions are raised about his batting position in RCB.

Parthiv Patel Says RCB Can Replicate The Positive Vibes Around Mike Hesson Into Performance

However, the arrival of Australian limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch has given team management an interesting headache about their opening combination.

“Thankfully and fortunately I’m not Mike Hesson (team director). Whatever the team decides I’ll be alright with it,” Parthiv says.

Mike Hesson (Image Credit: Google)

RCB has an entirely different support staff this season spearheaded by team director Mike Hesson and head coach Simon Katich. Parthiv Patel says there exist calmness and positive vibes around Mike Hesson.

“I think there’s a lot of calmness around the group and a lot of positive vibes with him (Mike Hesson around). Hopefully, we can replicate this vibe and practice into performance (when the IPL starts).”

Unlike the majority of RCB cricketers, Parthiv Patel has won the IPL thrice once being with Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and twice with Mumbai Indians in 2015 and 2017 but he knows the importance to end RCB’s trophy drought.

The left-hander however acknowledged the challenges of playing in a different environment in a biosecure bubble this year. IPL 2020 will be possibly played before empty stands and will commence from September 19 and conclude on 10th November after being postponed from 29th March.