As a fan of Patel, I shall step in slightly, he shouldn't be batting 7 and I think he should only be in the side as a sixth bowler, ideally. He's good enough to bat in the top six. He's only played one game at six, where he got that superb 70 from 45 or so balls in India, quite why he hasn't had a chance higher up is a bit odd, especially as he's spent most of his career at 4/5.
Fair enough to question how he's been used, I think it is likely that he is seen as an "all-rounder" solution and so is played lower down the order. With the keeper picked for batting more than for his keeping, and five batsmen, they must see more sense in him batting seven than the keeper or batsmen.
Who would you put down at seven instead? Kieswetter is about the likeliest to drop down the order.
You can't really draw a conclusion from a 70no batting at six, especially as England racked up 298/4 and were 195/4 when he came in. India got home by five wickets, only two batsmen from either side failed to make double figures and 24 was the next lowest score thereafter. He did score them off 43 balls, but since only one double figures batsman scored at an SR under 82 then we can safely say it wasn't the toughest pitch to bat on.
There's no point playing him as a sixth bowler, we need a fifth bowler and if he doesn't grab that role, which he isn't, then he'd have to displace a batsman.
Essentially, it should be him or Bopara in the side. I think you should be able to get away with Bresnan at 7 in an ODI, if you're needing the lower order for anything other than useful hitting at the end of an innings then your top six is doing something wrong anyway. Slightly different balance required to the longer format.
While the seven shouldn't be needed to make fifties and hundreds all that often, you can be in a situation five down needing more than brief cameos. ODIs are as much about partnerships as they are individual performances, I'm not sure I'd want either Bresnan or Broad at seven, prefer Swann or a truer all-rounder.
How deep your batting goes can also impact on the top order, how aggressive they may be being different if the seven and eight are say a Klusener and a Boucher as opposed to a Bresnan and a Broad. They may rein it in a bit to make sure the lower order aren't having to do too much batting, but if the lower order are capable then they'll have freer licence.
I'm sure England are happier with Patel batting seven than if it were Bresnan, they won't be as happy about his bowling.
Whether he has a long term future in the side, I think that's up to England, it has to be him or Ravi and I think there'll be bigger doubts over Ravi in the batting stakes. I don't think he's likely to have a long career, he's got the potential but I don't think as a frontline bowler he is ever going to be a long part of the team.
It isn't an "either/or" scenario though, maybe England just need to give younger players a go. What happened to that Stokes fella? He obviously has bowling and batting ability, even if he hasn't been able to bowl, or bowled, that much. England want to do well in the next World Cup now is the time to be getting players in the side and trying them.
Players like Wright (46), Yardy (28) and Patel (28) will accumulate ODIs and be spat out, never really amounting to much because England won't shape the team around them and they'll never be able to fill the all-rounder role England envisage them filling. It's like the plethora of keepers who've been played as pinch-hitters, trying to make players into something they're not. Most comparable football one I can think of right now is LFC fan(s) suggesting Downing as a left-back. Either play him in his usual role, or don't pick him.
Patel may be a handy bowler, but not good enough most of the time. England will need him to do more with the ball, they'll never see him as a batsman who can bowl but isn't in the side for it. He'd have more hope if he didn't bowl at all, but he does. The one thing in Patel's favour is I'm not sure England are brave enough to look elsewhere so he may be a default. There is a long time between now and the World Cup though so England should be brave. If he doesn't have a good ODI series in India I'm guessing England may move on, I think they will persist with him that long unless he has a shocker this series.
