Harshal Patel reveals his conversations with Zaheer Khan during his early IPL career

Harshal Patel has proven himself to be a valuable asset in the ranks of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has been shouldered with the onus of bowling the death overs, a problem that had plagued RCB for a while before Harshal with his many variations and his ability to out-think a batsman has solved to a large extent. 

Talking about his idol when it comes to slower balls, Harshal said, “I think if I have to look at one person who sort of legitimized slower balls, it was Zaheer Khan in the 2011 World Cup. The way he got people out with those knuckle balls was unbelievable to watch. I got my education in T20 bowling from him.”

Harshal then shifted his story to his starting journey with the Challengers. “I started with RCB in 2012, when he used to be with us. He used to come up to me every single ball and tell me what to bowl. He would keep on telling me ‘Bowl length, bowl this, bowl that’. He would advise me not to bowl the slower one frequently. He used to tell me how to package it,” he revealed on an episode of Breakfast with Champions.

“I remember when we were playing in Pune and he had told me not to bowl the slower ball. I bowled a slower one to Robin Uthappa and he hit it for a six over mid-wicket. He walked towards me and with all the other ineffable things that he would utter, he also said ‘Did I not tell you to not bowl the slower one then?,’” Harshal recalled.

When asked whether Zaheer is proud of Harshal as a student now, the latter would say, “I met him in the last season after the game. He said ‘Everything is going well, how much more do you want to change things?”