"Proud and at peace", Parthiv Patel retires from all forms of cricket
New Delhi, Dec 9: Parthiv Patel, one of the youngest to have played Test cricket for India at the age of 17, on Wednesday, announced his retirement from all forms of the game, three month's short of his 36th birthday.
"Today, I announce retirement from all forms of cricket and as I bring down curtains on this 18 year-old cricketing journey, I feel heavier with gratitude for many," the 35-year-old Parthiv said in a statement on his official twitter and instagram account.
The baby-faced Parthiv, who made his Test debut under Sourav Ganguly, at the age of 17 years and 153 days, played 65 international games for the country, which included 25 Tests, 38 ODIs and two T20 Internationals.
The left-handed batsman scored nearly 1700 runs (1696) across formats with 934 runs (6 half centuries) coming in the longest format.
In ODIs, he scored 736 runs with four half-centuries and a highest score of 95. He effected 72 dismissals in Tests, which include 62 catches and 10 stumpings.
Parthiv burst into the scene in early 2002, when he was sent to England after having played for India A in South Africa and even before he made his Ranji Trophy debut.
"The BCI showed generous amount of confidence and faith in a 17-year-old boy to play for India. I have enormous gratitude towards them for guiding me and hand holding me in the formative years of my young career," Parthiv further stated.
In fact, he played his first Ranji Trophy after he was dropped from the India squad in 2004 due to below-par glovework on tours of Australia and Pakistan.
He was thankful to all captains and "especially Dada" referring to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
Once Mahendra Singh Dhoni came into the scene, just like other glovesman, Parthiv also had to play the catch-up game and be satisfied being the second keeper and at times playing as a specialist batsman.
He rediscovered himself as an opening batsman in white ball cricket and that's how played a bit of ODIs for India during his second coming but chances were few and far between.
However, Parthiv like a true sportsman had always accepted that he can't blame Dhoni for his sporadic national appearances as both he and Dinesh Karthik got chances to cement their places before Dhoni.
But he did become a domestic legend and before retirement, played an astonishing 194 first-class games in which he had scored 11,240 runs with 27 hundreds at an average of 43 plus.
Add to it, 194 List A games and 204 T20 games, Parthiv had a long run but it was just that Dhoni was a few lightyears ahead as a performer.
But Parthiv did play for a lot of IPL teams, including Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore during the last 13 editions. Probably not getting a game in this IPL edition for RCB was decisive in his case.
"I want to thank the IPL franchises and their owners who made me a part of their teams and looked after me well," he said.
A long time leader of the Gujarat Ranji team, his finest hour would certainly be captaining his state to maiden Ranji Trophy triumph in 2016-17 season.
It was Parthiv, who with his leadership and ability to identify talent, made Gujarat from a middle-level domestic team to one of the best in the country.
Not to forget, he was India and one of world's premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah's first skipper at the senior level during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy back in 2013, in which he made an impression to be picked for Mumbai Indians.
While signing off, the cherubic faced glovesman said: "I feel at peace having played the game in its truest tenets with dignity and in the spirit of the game and most importantly with great camaraderie.
"As I walk away a proud man, having fulfilled more dreams than I thought possible, I hope to be remembered with that thought and find your support for my future endeavours."
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) December 9, 2020
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
