“I want to be in those situations” - Harshal Patel on bowling tough overs for RCB in IPL 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel has said that he wants to be the one to bowl the tough overs for the team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Admitting that he might not always get things right, the 31-year-old added that he would be fine with it as long as he doesn’t shy away from the challenge.

Harshal Patel played a key role in his IPL team’s 14-run triumph over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. LSG were chasing 208 to book their place in Qualifier 2. They were in the hunt, needing 41 off 18 balls with seven wickets in hand.

Harshal Patel, though, bowled two brilliant overs at the death (18th and 20th), conceding only eight and nine runs respectively. In a high-scoring knockout game, he ended with excellent figures of 1-25. Providing an insight into his mindset while bowling the ‘tough overs’, the RCB medium-pacer said at a post-match conference:

"Whether I will be able to deliver or not, I don't know, but I want to be in those situations; there's no doubt about that. I've been wanting to do that for the past two-three years. I've been doing it for Haryana. I want to do it at the biggest stage, and I'll continue to put myself in those situations."

He continued:

"Sometimes, it's going to come off; sometimes it won't. There will be games I will end up losing for the team, and I'm okay with that as long as I don't shy away from these challenges."

Before his brilliance at the death, the canny medium-pacer was impressive in his first spell as well, conceding only eight runs in two overs.

There were question marks over Harshal Patel's availability for the knockout game, as he had split his right hand webbing in RCB’s previous game. In fact, he bowled only one over in that clash against Gujarat Titans (GT). Opening up about the injury, the Bangalore bowler said:

"Luckily, I didn't have to make any changes to my skill, because the skin superficially has healed quite well. So I was able to bowl my slower balls, I was able to bowl whatever I wanted to bowl. We tried everything in practice yesterday."

He continued:

"I bowled 30-40 balls and was pretty confident this would hold up as long as I didn't get another impact. So, I didn't have to make a lot of changes. Luckily, it healed just about enough for me to play this game."

The IPL Purple Cap winner last season has been among RCB’s standout performers this year as well. In 14 games so far, he has claimed 19 scalps at an average of 20.05.

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“He's a joker in the pack” - Faf du Plessis on Harshal Patel

Following RCB’s triumph over LSG in the Eliminator, Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis described Harshal Patel as the joker in the pack and his go-to man with the ball. After the game, he said:

"He's a joker in the pack, isn't he? A special card you pull out. More than anything, it's the time that he bowls. He's a high-pressure-time bowler. Every single time I feel the pressure the most, I go to him. He has even asked for it."

Du Plessis continued:

"In one of my first conversations with him, he said, 'I want to bowl the important overs.' That confidence speaks for itself. So, today (Wednesday) to bowl the important overs and especially that second-last (third-last) one, to change the game almost single-handedly was awesome."

RCB will now take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2 of in Ahmedabad on Friday (May 27). The winner of that game will meet Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final on Sunday (May 29).