Trick lies in how I read the game: Harshal Patel reveals the key factor that makes his bowling menacing for the best of batsmen

Harshal Patel is one of the most reliable bowlers in the final overs for RCB and whenever the captain has asked him to provide crucial breakthroughs, the medium-pacer has delivered. Honing his skills to become sharper since the earlier half of the last decade, Harshal Patel has been a game-changer for all the right reasons.

Talking on the latest episode of the RCB Podcast Season 2, Harshal opened up on the phase where he started planning things better and packaging them in a much better manner that made him a crucial threat to opposition batting units.

Harshal said, “I learnt the packaging of my deliveries from Zaheer Khan in my first-ever season with RCB in IPL. He basically taught me there are four kinds of deliveries: length balls, bouncers, slower ones and yorkers and how you package that is what will determine how successful you are. Also, execution plays a big part. I always had that at the base. However, like I said, I kept practicing on and on, trial and error and now I have realized that there are certain options that work better for me.”

He continued, “Not just talking about the certain options that work better for me, but there are also options that don’t work better for me. If I have completely exhausted my options, then I will choose the options that are low-percentage for me. Everyone in IPL and in international cricket knows what I bowl and how I bowl. The trick however, lies in how I read the game, read what I am trying to do, or how I am trying to stay one step ahead of them.”