IPL 2021: Harshal Patel shines on his return for Royal Challengers

Harshal Patel shone on his return for Royal Challengers Bangalore as he registered a five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians in the opening clash of the IPL 2021. He returned with figures of 5-27 to set a new record, becoming the first bowler to claim a fifer against Mumbai Indians in the history of IPL.

The pacer is into his ninth edition of the T20 league. Yet, he has played only a handful of games over the years. The journey has been tough. He has had to endure a plethora of injuries and rough patches. Few people choose to grow stronger during such phases. Hardships are a certainty in life. The universe contains innumerable narratives of people who have thrown down the gauntlet to thwart the setbacks. Harshal Patel is one of them. 

One notable difference has been how he has matured as a cricketer. With a lot more variations, he has developed a knack for picking wickets at the crucial juncture of the game. Prior to the season, he was informed that he would be entrusted with the duty to bowl in the death overs, a phase where even the lethal bowlers lose their footings sometimes. 

“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. 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, ” he said in the post-match presentation. 

Sport, as we know, is all about learning. After knowing that he would be handed the responsibility of bowling in the death overs, he sought to broaden his repertoire by developing the yorkers. "My yorker is something I've been bowling for a long time but I was not confident enough to take that into the game. But now, in the last 15-20 days I made sure I put myself in situations where I have to bowl a yorker and get confident at it, ” Patel added. 

He was drafted into the side ahead of a more established pacer, Navdeep Saini. Be it his bagful of variations or the ability to strike a few lusty blows with the willow, the decision was taken considering that Harshal offers more options to the table. In addition to that, he had to bowl two overs in the death.

Needless to say, there was a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders. Patel began by conceding 15 runs in his very first over. By the end of the 15th over, the scorecard read 128-3. The likes of Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan were in the middle, with Kieron Pollard and Kunal Pandya to follow. Mumbai Indians would have definitely fancied their chances to breach the 200-run mark. The Haryana pacer was brought back into the attack. He produced one of the finest death overs spell in the history of the IPL. In his last three overs, he conceded 12 runs and claimed five wickets, reducing Mumbai to a below-par score of 159. 

Historically, the Mumbai Indians’ middle-order quartet - Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya - is known for their batting acrobatics in the death overs. However, it was not bound to happen last night. Harshal Patel found ways to question the batsmen. The manner in which he used the slower deliveries and sent down searing yorkers was just commendable. On the back of his tormenting spell, he was rightfully declared the Man of the Match.