Every nation needs its icons, and in the Indian ethos, the rise to fame is particularly meteoric - here today, gone tomorrow, as it were. Parthiv Patel - he of the unshaven face and the quicksilver gloves - is most definitely here today, and not a few fans hope that he will stick around till tomorrow.

In his hotel room after India crushed the West Indies by eight wickets at Chennai, the 17-year-old wicket-keeper has a big smile on his still-babyish face, but the calluses on his palms tell a different story - one of hard work and tough knocks.

The margin of error in wicket-keeping is almost non-existent; drop a catch, fumble a take, and - as Deep Dasgupta found out the hard way - the mistakes prove expensive, costing tons of runs or possibly an entire match. Ask Patel's predecessors - Ajay Ratra, Dasgupta and Sameer Dighe - and they would argue theirs is the toughest job on the Indian cricket field. With all these predecessors, moreover, still on the fringes of selection, retaining the job is a difficult proposition. Fortunately for him, young Patel seems to be well-equipped for his job and focussed on it.

First called up for the Indian tour of England earlier this year, Patel replaced Dasgupta as second-choice keeper in a squad that also included Ratra. "When I was sleeping, my dad had watched the news on TV, and he woke me up to inform me about the selection," says Patel. He made his debut perhaps earlier than expected - in the second Test at Nottingham, after Ratra was injured. "Before the tour started, I was told that I was going on this tour to gain some experience. So I did not expect to get a chance to play in England. It was a great experience, suddenly coming into the team. All my teammates supported me - the captain, the vice-captain, the whole team."

Patel did a good job behind the sticks, but he failed to trouble the scorers in his debut innings, lasting just eight balls before falling to a Steve Harmison snorter for a duck - the first time, he admitted, he had faced bowling around 90 miles per hour. His next knock, however, was a vital one; with India in trouble in the second innings, Patel turned out a gritty innings that ensured the draw.

"I was playing in my first Test and there was this big pressure on me, as I was the only batsman remaining. Later I had to bat on with Zaheer Khan to save the match. I told myself not to think about saving the Test but to concentrate on playing it ball by ball," recalls Patel. "I told myself: even if I don't score runs it is okay, but I have to hang on there in the middle. I was asked by my captain to stay at the wicket, and I am glad that I could do that."

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Thankfully, however, the Englishmen eschewed the Australian habit of "mentally disintegrating" a gumshoe at the crease. The English were very nice to him, says Patel. "There was no sledging or anything of that sort. They didn't say anything to me. After the match, everybody came and appreciated me." One gesture, in fact, said it all; as the teams walked off after the match had been drawn, Alec Stewart affectionately ruffled Patel's almost-non-existent hair, the team allowing the teenager the honour of walking off first.

In the following Test, India pulled off a sensational win at Headingley. "I came to know what a player has to do to win a Test match. It takes a lot out of the players, especially in foreign conditions," says Patel. "Our bowlers bowled brilliantly, and it was a great team effort. Sanjay Bangar played a key role in that win. He was asked to hang in there and play a long innings. He makes a lot of difference to the side as an opening batsman."

Patel acknowledges the important role that Indian coach John Wright has played. "He is doing a great job with us, ready to help anybody at any time. I learn a lot from him; actually he was the one who told me to hang in there, and that the runs would come if I stayed there in the middle. He has been telling me what he used to do while he was an international player."

Asked whether he aims at playing in the 2003 World Cup, Patel says, "I am concentrating on Test cricket, and I want to keep well and stay focused. It is a big job to do, to be wicket-keeping on Indian wickets with the ball turning and bouncing."

Calling it a "big job" is a classic piece of understatement; Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are no lollipop-bowlers, and Patel has been watching both from different angles in the nets to get acquainted with their actions and styles. "Harbhajan can bowl six different balls in one over - the off-break, the straighter one, the one that goes away, and all that. I have to concentrate very hard and keep watching his hand.

"Kumble is quick in the air and also off the pitch. He also bowls top-spin, the googly, everything," says Patel. "I have to watch very carefully for what comes next. I have done a lot of practice and also chatted with him. It takes a lot out of you when you keep to Kumble; it is very demanding, and on Indian wickets, it can either shoot up or keep very low."

But Patel plays his cards with a simple and confident technique. "Keep on watching the ball - that is the trick. There is nothing secret about it," he says, one of the last remarks he makes before he leaves for Mumbai for a few sessions with English stumper Bob Taylor.

Stepping out of the hotel elevator with him is an interesting experience. The cordon of celebrity-spotters that is permanently assembled in the lobby swivels its collective head towards the diminutive keeper, and excited nudging and whispering breaks out. Which just goes to show that Patel is a model of catching consistency; he has caught everything thrown at him on the field, and off it, he has caught the imagination of the Indian public as well.

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