One of 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup winning hero, wicketkeeper-batsman Smit Patel is currently fighting to earn a permanent spot in his domestic team Gujarat.
The 22-years old right-handed batsman had hit the winning boundary in the 2012 ICC U-19 WC final in August. He had played a solid knock of unbeaten 62 runs against Australia in that final along with the hero of the match skipper Unmukt Chand.
Smit told Wisden India with reminding that final, “It’s been a long time. But that was a memorable day that has been the highlight of my career so far.”
Smit had a good tournament as he scored 178 runs in the six matches with the average of 59.33.
Smit added about the memorable WC campaign, “We just wanted to go out there and express ourselves and reproduce what we had learned in the camps. The atmosphere in the dressing room was tremendous; our coaches were very friendly and kept the atmosphere quiet and calm. Beating Australia in Australia in a World Cup is a big achievement. Since that knock, which came when the chips were down, I’ve learned a lot of things.”
He also elaborated about his lessons. He spoke out, “Temperament. Batting in the Ranji Trophy and batting in Under-19 are totally different. The players (in the Ranji Trophy) are mature enough and bowl to their plans. I learned to adjust playing on different kinds of wickets and against bowlers who already have a plan in place for you, to try and upset their plans.”
After that successful WC campaign, Smit had made his debut for Gujarat in 2012-13 Ranji trophy where he had hit four half-centuries in his first four matches and had made his maiden hundred in his fifth match. He said, “I scored three-four half-centuries, but I was just getting out in the 70s and 80s. I wanted to finish the task, which I had started. So in the fifth game, I just took a little bit of time in the middle when I was going through that phase (70s and 80s), because if you can do that, the runs are going to come, obviously.”
One of the main reason of Smith’s in and out from the domestic squad due to the presence of senior wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel. Smit said about Parthiv, “I think we’re totally different kind of players. We had a good coach in Under-19, Mr (R) Sridhar, who is right now the (fielding) coach of the Indian team. We worked on a couple of things, on the wicketkeeping front as well, and since then, I’ve been doing that. His (Parthiv’s) work ethic is really good. I’ve seen him work really hard on his keeping in the nets. That gives me something to look up to and motivates me to do the drills that he does in practice to improve in certain areas.”
The big problem for Smit is the lack of consistency in his performance. He commented on this, “I’ve been working hard, I don’t think I’ve lacked in effort. But it’s part and parcel of the game. You play well one day, you don’t on another. I’m hoping for the best to come, and I’m sure I’ll make it big one day.”
Smit said that Virat Kohli inspired him in the cricket. He said, “When I started off, I didn’t dream of coming this far. But when I was 14, India won the Under-19 World Cup under Virat Kohli. From that day, playing Under-19 cricket became my dream.”
Smit also talked about Dhoni, “From the time I have been playing, MS Dhoni has been doing really well. When I see him walk onto the field, with his head always up, I’ve always tried to be the same; no matter what happens, put your head up and keep doing your thing and don’t worry about the results.”
Since that WC campaign, Unmukt Chand has put far behind to Smit. Yet Smit is happy on Chand’s good performances. Smit said, “I think I would not like to compare my career with his. I’m really happy for him that he’s doing well. I just want to live up to my expectations and the expectations of my family and fans.”