Of Indian origin; his parents are Indian, but born and brought up in Wellington, Jeetan Patel is a restrictive off spin bowler. He was identified by John Bracewell when he was the coach of the national side and took him to Zimbabwe for an ODI tournament in 2005.

Patel made his test debut against South Africa away in 2006 and took the wickets of Graeme Smith, Boeta Dippenaar and AB de Villiers. His best show came in the 2007 CB series when he forged a good combination with Daniel Vettori to dry up the runs. He played a significant role as the second spinner and complemented Vettori who is a more attacking bowler.

With a steady action, Patel gets nice drift in the air and though he hasn't developed a doosra, the drift makes up for the lack of it. But he has forever lived under the shadow of Vettori and with New Zealand rarely employing two spinners, his chances have been limited in Test matches. Patel played English county cricket for Warwickshire in 2009. On his county debut against Yorkshire he scored 120, his maiden first-class century.

Patel wasn't selected for the 2011 World Cup and has continued to play domestic cricket for Warwickshire. He continued playing Test cricket as the shorter form had either Daniel Vettori or Nathan McCullum playing the lead spinner. However, he had a dip in form as he picked up only 12 wickets in 6 Tests after the WC. Patel was dropped after the second Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in January 2013, his place was given to Bruce Martin in the next series against England.

Consistent performances for county side Warwickshire helped Patel earn a recall to the New Zealand side. He made the comeback to Test cricket after three years during the series against India and since has been part of the New Zealand squad, where he had been used as per the conditions. With the 2017 Champions Trophy being played in England, Patel's experience in those conditions will be called upon.

By Srivathsa