The name of Urvil Patel, the player who scored the fastest T20 century in India, is on everyone’s lips at this time. He is originally from Vadnagar. Interestingly, Urvil’s name was in the IPL auction, but no team bid for him and he remained unsold. The player in whom no team of the Indian League was interested, scored a century in just 28 balls on the second day of the auction, which was India’s fastest century and the second fastest century in the world. ‘Divya Bhaskar’ talked to Urvil about this. Here are the main excerpts from the conversation with him… Papa’s dream was not fulfilled, but he made me a cricketer
Cricketer Urvil Patel, who lives in Kahipur village near Vadnagar, said – My father is a PT teacher. He had only one dream that ‘I should make my career in sports.’ Because father was an athlete in college days, but the condition of the family was not so good, so he could not make his career in sports. So, since I was 6 years old, dad started making me practice cricket. I made Prakashbhai Patni my Guru in Palanpur and started taking professional cricket training from him. After 12th, I took admission in BA, which is still going on. Till now I have played full-time cricket, but now due to sports quota I have got a job as a tax assistant in Income Tax. Got an offer to play for Gujarat team in 2017
How long have you been associated with professional cricket? Urvil says, ‘For the last 12 years I have been playing full-time cricket professionally only in tournaments organized by BCCI. In 2012, I played the Under-14 state tournament for the first time. For years I played for the Vadodara team, but in 2017 I got an offer to play for the Gujarat team. Playing for the Gujarat team gave me more possibilities and more opportunities in my career. So now I am playing for Gujarat. So far, I have played 6 matches of Ranji Trophy, 14 matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy and 45 matches of Mushtaq Ali Trophy. (Gujarat state has a total of 3 first class cricket teams: Gujarat, Saurashtra and Vadodara) Second in the world and fastest century in India
About the fastest century, Urvil said- ‘Earlier, I also had the record of the second fastest century from India in ODIs. Yusuf Pathan’s fastest century was in 40 balls and mine was in 41 balls. After this, the century scored in 20 overs is the fastest century scored by an Indian in 28 balls. The world record for the fastest century is in 27 balls, so I am now second in the world. Last time I was bought by Gujarat Titans
About IPL, Urvil told that since 2018, my name has been continuously kept in the auction by BCCI. But for the first time I was selected in IPL for 2023. Gujarat Titans team bought me for 20 lakhs. That year I was in the team, but could not play any match. After this, I was not selected in the IPL last year i.e. 2024 and this year too. I could not even call home
On not being sold in the auction, Urvil said- It is every player’s dream to play in the IPL. The craze of IPL has increased so much that now IPL has become the entry gate of the Indian team. But not getting selected was very disappointing. I did not even talk to my family that day. Because, if my parents had known that I was sad, they would have also felt sad. But cricket has taught me that whatever happens happens for good, so one day I felt pain, but then I forgot everything and started playing cricket again. Scored the fastest century on the second day of the auction
On the 25th you were not selected in the auction and on the 27th you made the record of the fastest century. Did you score a century in anger? In response to this question, Urvil said- No-no! When we go to the field, we should forget everything in the past to play well. I was playing my normal game that day too. That day we had decided from the beginning that today we will win the match as soon as possible. Because now there will be knockouts after the league stage, many teams have equal points. Then the run rate of the team was important. And we won the 20-over match in 10 overs only. This also improved the run rate of our team. I got relief seeing the family happy
‘The grief of IPL auction will remain throughout the year. But, its recovery was 100%. After finishing the match on the day of the century, I called home directly. Both me and father were nervous for two days of the auction. After the century, I came out after batting and immediately called my father, ‘Papa, I have recorded it!’ Father had not seen the match then, so he did not know. He asked directly, ‘What happened?’ When I told everything, father also became very happy. I was not that happy even then, but father and family were happy. So I became normal. I was not selected in the auction, but after this achievement everyone has started knowing me. So it was a time of celebration for me. When he met Dhoni and Kohli
Recalling his IPL days, Urvil says- ‘Suryakumar Yadav is my favorite player. I enjoyed talking to him the most. I like his batting so much that I asked, what do you think mentally when you go to the field?’ He told me, ‘Enjoy your batting without any fear.’ No one can see anything in front of you. Whatever technique you have, just play without fear. Apart from this, Hardik Pandya was our captain. No one has an attitude like him. He is number-1. Because he has a lot of confidence in himself. You can learn a lot from him. Apart from this, when I met Dhoni and Kohli, it was also a matter of pride for me. Both are great players and equally great human beings.
