One of Kenyan cricket's clutch of promising youngsters, Rakep Patel is an aggressive right-handed batsman and occasional offspinner. Patel's first outing for Kenya came on his first-class debut, aged 17, for Kenya Select XI against Westerns in Zimbabwe's Logan Cup competition. Patel started his career in the lower middle order, but has since moved up the order and his best ODI performance to date came as an opener when he cracked 92 to help seal a six-wicket win over Netherlands in Nairobi in February 2010. He had to pull out of Kenya's squad for their Intercontinental Cup game against Canada in August 2009 when his father passed away, and captain Maurice Ouma dedicated the victory in that game "to my team-mate's dad". Unafraid to play his shots when the situation warrants, Patel smashed 71 from just 29 balls, including eight sixes, in a 50-over match against Uganda in December 2009. But he is also developing as a batsman in the longer forms of the game, and his 87 helped Kenya chase down a target of 320 in their second innings in an Intercontinental Cup game against Netherlands in February 2010. As Kenya look to rebuild after a turbulent period and re-assert their status as the leading Associate nation, Patel could be an important part of their plans.
Liam Brickhill