Very happy I was able to come back the way I did: Harshal Patel

It was a delight for the RCB fans to see Harshal Patel being back in the limelight with an excellent spell that would see him claim three crucial wickets and most importantly deliver those miserly 18th and 20th overs, sealing the tie for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

On a surface where spinners made merry and with somewhat of a modest total going by the standards of the latest edition of the tournament, it needed a very special night from the RCB bowlers. The entire bowling unit came together and pumped out a collaborative masterclass that would ease RCB’s journey past Chennai.

In a post-match interview, Harshal opened up about another special performance that is already becoming a habit for the purple cap winner of the previous edition of the tournament. Talking about the strategy that he would go by in the wee overs of his spell, he quoted, “I think in the first over, I was trying to bowl slower balls into the pitch but I floated a couple just under the bat and those are the ones that went to the boundary.”

Harshal would then talk about why his last few matches have been adrift from his natural decent figures. He would say, “For the last four or five games, I've been trying to concede two less boundaries in my spell but be a little more tighter with my execution and sequencing. When I look at my last four or five games, I didn't have as much impact as I did in the first half. So that's what I've been trying to correct and very happy I was able to come back the way I did.”

He would also open up about changing ends that helped him to asphyxiate Chennai’s run flow and also get the partnerships broken. He said, “To both the left-handers, we decided I would bowl wider of off stump and that allowed me to use the bigger side. So that was the rationale to changing ends. You need to be aware of what the conditions are and what the batters are trying to do and what areas they are trying to score in, and most importantly what are the deliveries you can execute and you feel confident about in that situation. So you take all these calculations in your mind and at the top of your mark, you need to be absolutely clear with your option and your field placing. As long as you have clarity at the top of your mark, you should be fine.”

He would finally conclude by talking about the packaging of his pace that is one of his most primary weapons. He would say, “Sequencing, like I said, when people are waiting for the slower balls, how do I make sure I don't give them slower balls. So that's when my hard lengths, bouncers and yorkers come in. I have not been able to use a lot this season, especially the yorkers, but it's something I want to bring back in the second half of the IPL."