Brijesh Patel (born 24 November 1952) is the incumbent chairman of Indian Premier League and former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for the

Indian national cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

as a right-handed batsman from 1974 until 1979.

Biography

Patel grew up in Bangalore. He played in 21

test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

from 1974 to 1977, and sustained a batting average of 29.45. He was also a bowler, but was never asked to deliver his right-arm off breaks for his national team. His highest test score was 115 not out. He was regarded as an excellent fielder normally covering areas around cover and point. He has a record of being a player who has never gone for a duck. While his international cricketing career was not particularly productive, he made 37 hundreds and over 11000 runs in first class cricket. His international career came to a premature end because of his suspect technique against genuine pace. At the time of his retirement, he held the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

records (since bettered) for most runs and hundreds. His talent first became evident as a student in

Bishop Cotton Boys School Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, India, founded in the memory of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta. The school has been described as "The Eton of the East". Th ...

, Bangalore, and he represented his country in a junior team that traveled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Throughout his career, he represented

Karnataka state Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and captained the team to many victories. He and fellow international

Gundappa Vishwanath Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath (born 12 February 1949) is a former Indian cricketer. Vishwanath was rated as one of India's finest batsmen throughout the 1970s. Viswanath played Test cricket for India from 1969 to 1983, making 91 appearances an ...

formed a formidable batting pair. After his playing days he became cricket administrator. A Jagmohan Dalmiya (Ex President of BCCI) supporter, Patel was appointed the Director of the National Cricket Academy in India until he was replaced in 2005 by another ex-Test cricketer, Shivlal Yadav, the current director of the NCA. Brijesh Patel has also been the Hon. Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) since 1999 and controls cricket in Karnataka. Some years ago he was also the Chairman of the National Selection Committee for the Indian national team and resigned after suffering a heart ailment. Brijesh Patel runs a private cricket coaching academy in Bangalore called B.P.C.A. (Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy), attended by more than 300 boys.

References

External links

* 1952 births Living people Indian cricket administrators Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Karnataka cricketers South Zone cricketers Wellington cricketers Indian Universities cricketers India national cricket team selectors Bishop Cotton Boys' School alumni Cricketers from Bangalore People from Vadodara Cricketers from Gujarat Indian cricket coaches Indian Premier League cricketers {{India-cricket-bio-stub