Rakesh Patel - so near, yet so far.

[gator]

I feel really bad for him... I personally have not watched him, hence cant comment on his bowling and if he really deserved a cap....Anyone watched him bowl? If he had been picked, Gujarat would have replaced KArnataka for the state with most number of fast bowlers playing within a given time span..... Pathan, munaf, zak, rakesh..... karnataka at one time had Sri, Venky, johnson and ganesh... __________________________________________________________________ The disappointment is evident in Rakesh Patel’s voice. He came close to wining the India cap, twice. And each time it proved ‘so near yet so far’. And this time the disappointment unfolded for him in dramatic fashion. He was sent an SoS to fly to Belfast from Liverpool to bail India out as most of the bowlers were down with the flu. The Baroda pacer responded promptly, and reached there in time. His hopes were soaring. “I had this dream of playing for India before retirement. Finally, I think I have made it,†Patel had told this daily then, after receiving the call.

RELATED STORIES

• Murali 15 off record • Dravid rested, Tendulkar to lead • Middlesex lose despite Kartik’s five-for • Trophy won in Belfast yet to be traced His folks back home in Navsari, a district in Gujarat, started distributing sweets in celebration. Little did they know then that soon another disappointment will hover over their courtyard. In the morning of the match against South Africa, Patel woke up with the hope of using the conditions conducive for seamers to trouble the Proteas, and cement his place in the side. But as luck would have it, his name was not inked in the playing eleven. The team went into the match with four bowlers, including two seamers. “The way they called me I was certain that I would play. Besides, I thought they would play three seamers as the conditions were good for fast bowling. But to my surprise and disappointment, I was not there,†said Patel, who has moved back to Liverpool to play local league there. Just like in 2002-03 series in New Zealand, here also, sitting at the dressing room, he had to control his urge to run down the bowling mark to destroy the opponents’ batting line-up. “It feels bad, of course. Coming so close and yet the dream remained unrealised,†said the 22-year old. But what would probably hurt the bowler more would be the fact that no word of encouragement came from any quarter, not even from captain Rahul Dravid. “Dravid thanked me initially for joining the team on short notice. But no one told me why I wasn’t picked. There was no word of consolation either from anyone,†said Patel, who has taken 45 wickets from nine matches so far in the Liverpool League. Patel does not even know how much he would get paid for his services. “I have got my daily allowance. But how much will I get for being there, I don’t know. The BCCI usually decides on such things after a tour,†said Patel, who took 37 wickets in the last Ranji season. So what does he do now? Go back to the dead tracks in India and toil hard season after season, like he had been doing relentlessly? “I will keep playing the game, pursuing my love. And hope that one day my dream will be fulfilled. My dream to wear the India cap,†suddenly again there is hope in his voice. http://cricket.expressindia.com/fulliestory.php?content_id=204707

[Ram]

He has spoken like a true 22 year old ! Naive to the core. Everyone knew he was called up because the pacers were struck by flu. RP Singh , who played all the matches , also had a mild attack and there was no guarentee that he would be fit for the match. As it happened, he was fit and therefore played , which is understandable because he is considered better than Rakesh. Now , where is the need to feel despondent here ? And besides , one of the main reasons he was called up is because he was close by to Glasgow. Not because he was the best replacement available. He should have realized that. "I had this dream of playing for India before retirement." -- hahaha.... relax bro.. u just 22 right ?

[gator]

He has spoken like a true 22 year old ! Naive to the core. Everyone knew he was called up because the pacers were struck by flu. RP Singh , who played all the matches , also had a mild attack and there was no guarentee that he would be fit for the match. As it happened, he was fit and therefore played , which is understandable because he is considered better than Rakesh. Now , where is the need to feel despondent here ? And besides , one of the main reasons he was called up is because he was close by to Glasgow. Not because he was the best replacement available. He should have realized that. "I had this dream of playing for India before retirement." -- hahaha.... relax bro.. u just 22 right ?

Mars-man... i think, he is much older.... he must be around 29 or so.... he has been around a long time.... i dont feel bad about him not getting a chance or never getting a chance....he didnt really set the stage on fire.... but about the expectations it creates on his family and friends and they start celebrating prematurely....

[Ram]

Mars-man... i think' date=' he is much older.... he must be around 29 or so.... he has been around a long time.... i dont feel bad about him not getting a chance or never getting a chance....he didnt really set the stage on fire.... but about the expectations it creates on his family and friends and they start celebrating prematurely....[/quote'] The article said he was 22..but yea , i checked.. he is nearly 29.. Forget it Rakesh.. u aint ever gonna play for the Blue-boys !

[gator]

on a side note, Phoolan Devi is also 29.... but she can go on for another 20 yrs, if she keeps bowling at 120kph...

[Predator_05]

Never watched him play, but if he couldn't make it to the Indian team back in '03 he won't make it anytime in the future now that he is past his peak. In many ways, he was quite unfortunate to be from Baroda. Alongside bowlers with equal or greater pedigree such as Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Rajesh Pawar and Yusuf Pathan, his achievements didn't always gain recognition. From what i've read, he was just another typical run-of-the-mill Indian bowler.