AB de Villiers has a massive impact on my career: Harshal Patel

The 30-year-old pacer who became India’s sixth oldest T20I debutant returned figures of 2/25 in his 4-over quota against New Zealand in the second T20I.

Harshal Patel Credit; Twitter/@BCCI
By Sreejith C R | Nov 20, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Harshal Patel produced an impressive performance on his India debut against New Zealand in the second T20I in Ranchi on Saturday. The 30-year-old right-arm pacer who became India’s sixth oldest T20I debutant returned figures of 2/25 in his 4-over quota. The Haryana workhorse also won the Player of the Match award for his match winning performance with the ball. Meanwhile Harshal has revealed that his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers had a massive impact on his career.

“AB has had a massive impact on my career. I have always been a silent observer of him. Recently when we were starting our campaign in the UAE I asked him, ‘How do I reduce my big overs? I have bowled 12-15 even 20-run overs in the IPL so how should I reduce those?’ So he told me, ‘When a batsman hits your good delivery, you shouldn’t change that.

Harshal made his domestic debut as early as 2009 and had to wait 12 years to don the India jersey. The pacer has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, he picked up 52 wickets in the last Ranji trophy season which took place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then went on to take a record- equalling 32 wickets for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last edition of the Indian Premier League and won the Purple Cap. Despite the impressive performances, he was not selected for the T20 World Cup squad.

Meanwhile an injury to Mohammed Siraj in the first T20I meant that the pacer could finally make his India debut after waiting for more than a decade.

Angles are a big part of my bowling : Harshal

Harshal is not the quickest bowler but he is very clever. He uses the angles and variations to good effects. The veteran comes up with a variety of tricks to fox the batsman.

“Angles are a big part of my bowling because, to give an example, if you bowl a fourth-stump line from close to the stumps, it remains a fourth-stump line but if you bowl from the corner of the crease it still comes in for the batter and sort of becomes difficult to hit through the offside. So angles have always been a big part of my game and I use them to good effect. I think it’s another thing that I can add to my repertoire without trying to do too many different things,” concluded Harshal Patel.

New Zealand who batted first, posted a total of 153 for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. Opener Martin Guptill made a quickfire 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed by Deepak Chahar and then Daryl Mitchell became Harshal’s first international wicket. Harshal dismissed No. 4 batsman Glenn Phillips for 34 runs.

Although Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were expensive, rest of the Indian bowlers bowled economical spells to restrict the Black Caps for just 153.

In response, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul scored brilliant half-centuries to  build a solid foundation for the chase. Rahul scored 69 off 49 balls while Rohit made 55 off 36 deliveries. Although both of them were dismissed, Venkatesh Iyer and Rishabh Pant finished off the match with 16 balls remaining.





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