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The legendary Sunil Gavaskar reckons that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fast bowler Harshal Patel will be Team India's trump card in the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. Harshal Patel has been a regular member of the Indian cricket team's T20 set-up since taking the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm in 2021. The 31-year-old made his national debut last year after earning rich plaudits for his excellent bowling performances in the 14th edition of the cash-rich league. Harshal Patel finished IPL 2021 as the leading wicket-taker with 32 scalps to his name, winning the Purple Cap in the process. Since arriving on the international stage, Harshal Patel has played 13 T20I matches for Team India, picking up 18 wickets. His best figures of 4/25 came against South Africa in the just-concluded home series. What's more, Harshal Patel has done a fine job in the absence of India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who hasn't played in a majority of T20Is owing to workload management issues.
While it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who won the Player of the Series award against South Africa, many would be surprised to know that the Uttar Pradesh bowler wasn't the highest wicket-taker in the five matches. Instead, it was Harshal Patel who had grabbed the maximum wickets against the Temba Bavuma-led side. The Gujarat pacer's seven-wicket haul in the series came at an average of 12.57 and an economy rate of 7.23.
His bowling has impressed several current and former cricketers, with Sunil Gavaskar being one of them. The ex-India skipper has now said that Harshal's ability to trouble the opposition batters both with the new and old ball would delight current captain Rohit Sharma.
Sunil Gavaskar even praised him for having a wide variety of balls, including slower ones in his arsenal.
“He will be one of the trumps cards because you have Bhuvneshwar, Shami and Bumrah as well. Brilliant for a skipper to have someone like him to depend on, He can come in and bowl may be even in the powerplay where people are now going with change of pace. So yes he certainly should be part of the group,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
South Africa's former skipper Graeme Smith was equally effusive in his praise of Harshal Patel, calling him a ” big asset” for Rohit Sharma and company.
“He has been excellent. Nobody skills in the death overs with the slower balls…but I feel from game 3 he found his right length and picked up wickets and kept the pressure on the South Africans. He has all the skills as an all-rounder bowler and is a big asset to the team and handles pressure very well and is a clear thinker under pressure,” Graeme Smith said.
Earlier, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan had thrown his hat behind Harshal Patel's inclusion in India's T20 World Cup squad, declaring that he was “outstanding” in the format.
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“I think he has done everything that a bowler or a player can do to maximize his chances to play in the World Cup. Harshal Patel has been outstanding in last one year, whether he is playing for his franchise or whenever he is getting a chance to play for India,” Irfan Pathan said.
“I understand playing in Australia, those pitches, you need extra pace, you need guys who can swing the ball around but Harshal has done everything what he could do to try to book his seat. Still a long way to go but he is on the right path,” Pathan added.
Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Smith, and Irfan Pathan may have lauded Harshal Patel's variations, but the India speedster is far from satisfied with his range and wants to keep improving all the time because it is the only way he could stay ahead of batters in the game.
“People have been trying to anticipate for the past two years. To be very honest, with every bowler, the longer they play, the more the opposition will realise what their strengths are, what the patterns are, and try to adapt to it. But as a bowler, my job is to stay one step ahead of batters,” he had said in a press conference during the South Africa series.
“At the end of the day, you can have 15 different plans, but on a particular day, in a pressure situation, if you don't go out and execute with confidence, everything doesn't really fall in place. So my focus has always been on how to read the game better in that particular moment and how to execute the best possible delivery at that point in time,” Harshal Patel summed up.
