Harshal rises from bit-part roles to being main man
Chennai, India - When Harshal Patel stood with arms aloft, looking at the skies, after getting his fifth wicket in the innings on Friday against Mumbai Indians, it felt like a release. Indian players who haven't played international cricket yet do have their moments to shine in the IPL, but it's rare for someone who hasn't been a regular in IPL XIs to have a moment quite as stunningly successful as Harshal did.
Since 2016, he had played a total of only 18 IPL games. And yet, traded back to the Royal Challengers Bangalore after three years with the Delhi Capitals, Harshal responded by taking five for 27, the IPL's first-ever five-wicket haul against the best T20 side in the business - the Mumbai Indians.
What made Harshal's feat impressive was not just the rivals it came against, but the manner it was achieved in and the batsmen he conquered. Together, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya form the most lethal middle order in the IPL. Not only he dismissed each one of them, but did it in ways that left no doubt that the bowler had won the battle against them. He did it by bowling yorkers that tailed in late with reverse swing, by changes of pace that the batsmen failed to detect and thus hit the ball where he wanted them to.
"When we gathered for the first camp there was a very clear instruction to me that I'm going to bowl at least two overs at the death," Patel said on Friday. "That gave me a lot of clarity and confidence to work on my skills and develop plans against the batters I'm going to face in the death overs in various teams. It made my preparation a lot more concise."
"My slower balls have been my biggest strength for almost ten years now and the yorker is something I've been working on," he said. "If you need to bowl in the death overs you definitely have to rely on the yorker. You can't just keep bowling length balls and slower balls, people are going to line that up. It's important to have that one delivery which can get the batsman off strike. It gives you options at the death.”
The overwhelming riches of talent that gather at the IPL mean that you will most likely be considered for bit-part roles, that Harshal had. Until you break through with that blockbuster season which drags you from the footlights to the limelight. Harshal is not there yet, but with his first game, he's given himself the chance of rising beyond bit-part roles.