Parthiv Patel gets unique birthday wish from Anil Kumble

One of the most revered cricketers from Gujarat, Parthiv Patel, turned 32 on March 9 this year. Albeit he still has the same looks that he had about 15 years ago when he first broke out at the international level, Patel has grown in stature over the years. The Twitter world surely celebrated his birthday and fans came in flooding with the birthday wishes. Team India head coach Anil Kumble was not far behind either.

Kumble was quick to take to the microblogging site and tweeted his birthday wish for the veteran wicketkeeper. Interestingly, back in 2002, when Parthiv Patel had made his international debut for India at the bare age of 17, Anil Kumble was a part of the dressing room. Certainly he has known Patel for quite some time now. In a very unique birthday wish, Kumble added an archived picture of Parthiv in his tweet that caught the attention of most fans.

Parthiv is seen standing next to a very tall man and the Gujarat lad is all smiles in the picture. Perhaps the picture was a subtle dig that Kumble tried to take at Parthiv’s short height. He also added a caption along with the picture and wished Parthiv success in the years to come. Anil Kumble tweeted, “Wishing a very happy birthday to @parthiv9! Wishing you nothing but the best in the coming years.”

Talking about the on-field action, Kumble is currently with the India side as the head coach and the national side is busy with the Australia Test series. Parthiv Patel is leading Gujarat in the domestic cricket and had recently led his side to their maiden Ranji Trophy triumph this year.

Parthiv Patel had also staged a national comeback last year during the England series and was impressive on his return. However, he had to make way for first choice keeper Wriddhiman Saha once the Bengal wicketkeeper was fit again.