The name of Urvil Patel, the player who scored the fastest century in India, is on everyone’s lips at the moment, who is originally from Vadnagar. Interestingly, Urvil’s name was in the IPL auction, but no team bid for him and he remained unsold.
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The same player in whom no Indian League team 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 highlights of the conversation with him…
Papa’s dream was not fulfilled, but he made me a cricketer Cricketer Urvil Patel, resident of 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 during his college days, but the family condition was not so good, so he could not pursue a career in sports. So, when I was 6 years old, my father started making me practice cricket.
Made Prakashbhai Patni his guru in Palanpur and started taking professional cricket training from him. Took admission in BA after 12th and is still pursuing it. Till now I have played full-time cricket, but now due to sports quota, I have got the job of 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 professional full-time cricket 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 Gujarat team gave me more prospects and more opportunities in my career. That’s why I am playing for Gujarat now. Till now he has played 6 matches of Ranji Trophy, 14 matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy and 45 matches of Mushtaq Ali Trophy. (There are total 3 teams for first class cricket in Gujarat state: Gujarat, Saurashtra and Vadodara)
World’s second and India’s fastest century Regarding the fastest century, Urvil said- ‘Earlier, I also held the record of the second fastest century for 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 India’s fastest century scored in 28 balls. The world record for the fastest century is in 27 balls, so I am now number two in the world.
Last time Gujarat Titans bought Regarding IPL, Urvil said that for the last 6 years since 2018, my name has been kept in the auction by BCCI. But for the first time I was selected for IPL 2023. Gujarat Titans team bought me for 20 lakhs. That year I was in the team, but did not play any match. After this, I was not selected in the IPL last year i.e. 2024 and this year too.
I couldn’t even call home On the matter of not being sold in the auction, Urvil said- It is every player’s dream to play in IPL. The craze of IPL has increased so much that now IPL has become the entry gate of the Indian team. But there was a lot of disappointment due to not being selected. I didn’t even talk to my family that day.
Because, if my parents had known that I was sad, they would have felt sad too. But cricket has taught me that whatever happens happens for good, so one day there was pain, but then I forgot everything and started playing cricket again.
Scored a quick century on the very second day of the auction On 25th you were not selected in the auction and on 27th you made the record of 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 about the past to play well.
I was playing my normal game that day also. That day we had decided from the beginning that today we would win the match as soon as possible. Because there will now be knockouts after the league stage, many teams have the same number of points. Then the run rate of the team was important. And we won the 20 over match in just 10 overs. This also improved the run rate of our team.
It was a relief to see the family happy The sorrow of IPL auction will remain for the whole year. But, its recovery became 100%. After finishing the match on the day of the century, I called home straight away. Both my father and I were nervous for two days. So she came out after batting and immediately called her father, ‘Papa, I have recorded it!’
Father had not seen the match then so he did not know. He asked from the front, ‘What happened?’ When I told the whole story, father also became very happy. I was not that happy even then, but dad 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 time for celebration for me.
When Dhoni and Kohli met Urvil recalls his IPL days and says- Suryakumar Yadav is my favorite player. I enjoyed talking with him the most. I like his batting so much that I asked, ‘What do you think about mentally when you go on the field?’ He told me, ‘Be cool and bat yourself.’
No one can see anything in front. Just have fun with whatever technology you have. Apart from this, Hardik Pandya was our captain. No one has an attitude like his. He is number-1. Because he has great confidence in himself. You can learn a lot from them. Apart from this, when I met Dhoni and Kohli, it was also a matter of pride for me. Both are great players and equally wonderful humans.