Chennai: Harshal Patel was told early on that he would be a ‘points player’ for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, a role he played to perfection in the IPL opening match against Mumbai Indians.
Harshal’s best 5 for 27 careers was one of the two match appearances for RCB, and the other for AB de Villiers.
“When I was traded from Delhi Capitals, I was told what role I was going to play for the franchise,” the Haryana patient said at the post-match press conference on Friday.
He was brilliant with death and just as captain Virat Kohli said, Harshal also knew he was expected to carry out the difficult task for which he had carefully planned.
‘There were clear instructions that I would bowl in the last two overs (he bowled 18 and 20). It gave me a lot of clarity. It helped me draw up certain plans against batsmen and keep my preparations concise. ”
Harshal said the pace change and the slow yorkers were his biggest force.
‘The ball started to spin at some point. “It was important to bowl the Yorkers and slower balls,” he said.
According to Harshal, he has been bowling the slower yorkers who got rid of Ishan Kishan and Marco Jansen for almost two seasons now.
‘Only if you do not get wickets from slow yorkers do people not tend to see it. I always had the worker, but could not take it into play earlier.
He did many simulations of bowling orcs during a practice session to get it right during the game.
“In the last 15-20 days, I’ve been trying to put myself in situations.”
After playing a lot of IPL cricket, he understands how situations can change from good to bad.
You always want to start well. I’m in my 10th season and I know how a season can go from good to bad fast. ”
Source: Telangana Today