It was the final over of the innings and 31-year old Ketan Patel, who had been batting throughout the innings, stood at the crease not out at 90. He is a ‘B1’ cricketer, which means that he is completely blind and that the runs he scores are doubled.
Despite a sluggish start, he had looked at ease against a tiring Bangladesh attack in the opening match of the second T20 World Cup for the visually impaired. With just ten runs to go for a memorable century, his teammates allowed him to have most of the strike and from the boundary ropes, they counted down as the man from Gujarat neared his ton.
Thanks to some quick running between the wickets by his runner Ganesh, Ketan had to score just two off the last delivery to reach three figures. He slapped Mohammed Malek’s delivery down the pitch but unfortunately, it went straight to the bowler who happily ran the Indian out. Ketan walked off with a beaming smile, raising his bat and acknowledging his teammates. It was not the first time he had put together such a gigantic score.
A native of Valsad, he has helped India to many memorable victories in the past. He scored 74 in the 2014 T20 World Cup final against the old rival Pakistan and two years before that, he had also recorded a score of 99 against them. He was also awarded the Man of the Series trophy in a tour to England in 2015, where he had scored 102 off a meagre 46 balls on one instance.
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“I was happy to hear my teammates cheering for me in the last over and wanting me to reach my hundred,” gushed Ketan after the match. He stated that it didn’t matter to him whether he reached the mark or not, adding, “But I did not even once think about getting there. My focus was on scoring for the team to the best of my ability.”
He picked up the Man of the Match trophy after the game as well, as he took a wicket in the very first over and saved quite a few runs with his fielding.
He was surprisingly dismissive of his knock, saying that he was not hitting the ball as well as he wanted to. “Initially, I was quite slow and my timing was off by quite a bit. I gradually got into the groove and tried to pick up the pace,” he said.
He heaped praised on his runner and teammate Ganesh, who was lightning quick between the wickets and was able to capitalize on the misfields by the Bangladeshi fielders. “I didn’t even hit a single four, which is slightly disappointing. But thanks to Ganesh, I could contribute to the scoreboard as my runs are of double value,” said Ketan.
It is crystal clear that he has set the bar very high for himself. With the monumental clash against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla coming up on Wednesday, Ketan will certainly have a major impact on how the game will turn out. He expects the match to go down to the wire and it will be fascinating to see what he and the rest of the side have in store for the all-important match.
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