Hiral Patel

Hiral Patel is an Indian-born Canadian cricketer who is considered as one of Canada's brightest young star for his impressive strokeplay. He came into limelight when he scored an unbeaten 88 off just 61 balls that helped Canada to a close 4-run win over Ireland in the Sri Lanka Associates T20 series in February 2010.

Patel, then made his ODI debut against Kenya in 2009. He struggled in the initial games but gradually started making a mark in international cricket. He had a poor run in the 2010 World T20 Qualifiers as well but made his mark in the World Cricket League Division One tournament in Netherlands later in the same year. The following year was much better for the young lad personally. He scored his maiden ODI fifty in the 2011 World Cup against Australia. Although Canada lost that game, Patel was the top-scorer with 54 runs and was responsible in giving them a good start that helped them post a decent score of 211 against a strong Australian bowling attack. Five months later, he hit his second fifty, this time against Afghanistan in the World Cricket League Championship, 2011-2013/14. Scoring 62, he was again the highest scorer in a team total of 230.

Even in T20Is, success has been hard to come by for Patel. After smashing 88 on his debut match, he has not relished much success in the games that followed. However, with age still on his side, he might as well have a rising future ahead of him.

By Sonali Dhulap

As of May 2014