Patel made his One Day International debut for England in August 2008, however was later dropped from the side after failing to meet fitness levels.

After an absence of 2+1⁄2 years, he returned to the ODI side in 2011 and made his Twenty20 International debut, before becoming the 651st player to represent England at Test cricket by winning his first cap on the tour of Sri Lanka in 2012.

In June 2021, during the 2021 t20 Blast, Patel became the first English player to do the double in T20 cricket of taking 250 wickets and scoring 5,000 runs.

Patel was educated at Eastwood Comprehensive School but later studied at Worksop College in north Nottinghamshire where he was a member of the 1st XI cricket team for five seasons.

Having been previously included in England's ODI and T20 squads for the tour of the West Indies in March and April 2009, Patel was dropped over fitness concerns.

It is extremely frustrating that Samit has not heeded the warnings of his county, Nottinghamshire, and Geoff Miller [national selector] as well as the England management and strength and conditioning team.

[12] Since making his debut for Nottinghamshire at the age of 16, Patel has featured consistently in the team, in both first-class and List A matches.

He became the only man in the history of the English Twenty20 competition to claim a double-wicket-maiden, when Nottinghamshire played Derbyshire at New Road, Worcester in 2006.

In the 2008 season, Patel made a steady start to Nottinghamshire's first-class campaign, scoring a century against Durham and three half-centuries.

[15] When Nottinghamshire won the County Championship in 2010, Patel contributed fewer runs: 641 from 16 matches at an average of 26.70, making him the club's 6th highest run-scorer in the year's competition.

[17] In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Rotterdam Rhinos in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.

[25][26][27] He joined Midlands rivals Derbyshire on a two-year contract and was named as the club's white ball captain.

[28][29][30] In his second appearance for Derbyshire, Patel put in a man-of-the-match winning performance, taking 2/21 and scoring 64, as his new team defeated Leicestershire by six wickets in the T20 Blast on 1 June 2024.

His first wicket was that of Neil McCallum and he finished with figures of 1/22 from seven overs; he also took a catch and ran out the Scotland captain, Ryan Watson.

He recorded figures of 5/41 and scored 31 runs off 49 balls in the third ODI to win the man of the match award as England claimed the series.

In September 2008, it was announced that Patel and six other players – the group was mostly made up of ODI specialists – would be given incremental contracts with the England Cricket Board (ECB).

England lost the final game of the series, with Patel not required with the bat and he again failed to make an impact with the ball.

[35] He made his Twenty20 International debut on 25 June against Sri Lanka; Patel was run out without scoring and bowled two wicketless overs as England succumbed to a nine-wicket defeat.

Patel had been in the preliminary list for the player auction ahead of the 2012 Indian Premier League but opted to withdraw to concentrate on English domestic cricket as participating would have meant missing up to seven County Championship matches.

[43] The new year began with Patel's inclusion in the England Lions squad to tour Sri Lanka in late January and early February 2012 for a one-day series.

In the fit ODI he finished with figures of 0–17 and was again not required with the bat as England won by seven wickets on the DL Method.

Patel could only make nine in the final match of the series, as South Africa secured a convincing seven wicket victory.

Patel made his first appearance of the tournament against Afghanistan, and finished up with exceptional figures, taking 2–6 off three overs, as England won by 116 runs.