Bio

Timil Patel played for India Under 19 and played 38 first class matches for Gujarat before moving to the U.S. in 2010. He has been a part of the Los Angeles club cricket scene since then, making his US debut in 2012.

He quickly established himself as a consistent wicket-taking leg-spin bowler for the national team and one who could be relied upon to fill any role with the bat as required.

Timil is definitely an attacking bowler and thrives on taking wickets for the teams he represents, in fact he currently holds the record for most wickets by anyone in Twenty20 cricket for the U.S.

11

Playing Number

Team Role

Leg Spinning All-rounder

Hometown

Fullerton, California

Nickname

Warney, Timmy, Leggie, Shorty

Country of Birth

India

Career Highlights

Playing for India U19 in England and making the US team for the first time

Favorite Cricketer

Rahul Dravid & Shane Warne

"There is a greater transparency in team selection than ever before. As a team, we are moving in the right direction"

Bio Continued...

When he was a kid in school himself back in India he was given the opportunity of playing cricket for the first time.

 

In April of 2017 Timil Patel became a United States citizen. Until now, like many other players in and around the U.S. setup he had qualified as a member of the national cricket squad under the “deemed nationals” clause. The U.S. cricket team has always been propped up by ex-pats from the sub-continent and Caribbean, but Timil Patel recognizes that for the sport to thrive long term more home grown talent must come through the grassroots pathways. He identified cricket in schools as the key to this transformation.

He was 8 or 9 when he first picked up a bat, and was initially a natural left hander. However, his Father was a passionate Sunil Gavaskar fan, and insisted his son emulate his idol by batting right handed. To this day, he can still throw with both hands. Clearly being made to switch stances didn’t hamper the young Patel’s development, becoming a leg-spinning all-rounder with enough ability to play for India at U19 level, and play 38 First class matches for his home state of Gujarat. A little-known fact about Patel is that he was also a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in 2008/2009 and was their best performer in a pre-season tour to Queensland. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to play in the IPL proper.

Patel emigrated to the US in 2010, settling in California where he has been ever since. He made his debut for the U.S. in the Auty Cup matches against Canada in 2012 and has been a regular fixture in the side ever since. At the 2015 ICC Americas Division 1 tournament in Indianapolis he became the all-time leading wicket taker for the U.S. in T20 cricket and will be an important part of the bowling attack at the World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in Uganda.

In discussing his time in the US team over the last 5 years, Patel wanted to give credit to the ICC.

Let’s hope for all U.S. cricket and sports fans that the direction they move is up, starting with a top 2 finish in Uganda. If that is to be the case you can expect the name of Timil Patel to be front and center.