"Think of myself as a cricketer who is at the peak of his game and wants to continue to learn" - Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel was in phenomenal form in the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). His performances saw him make his India debut during the T20 International (T20I) series against New Zealand at home last year.

However, the pacer believes he has not attached a lot of value to his tag as an 'India cricketer' as he knows that selection is not in his hands and he can be out of the team at any moment. Instead, the pacer just wants to focus on his performances and keep learning.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Harshal opened up about his mindset.

"The moment you start thinking, 'Oh, now I'm an India cricketer', you start attaching expectations and value to that tag. Of course, that tag is valuable to me, and I've earned it through my performances, but I have no control over when it will be taken away," he said.

Elaborating on his point, Harshal said:

"The more value you attach to something, the more pressure you feel trying to defend it. I just think of myself as a cricketer who is at the peak of his game and wants to continue to learn, get better. Whatever comes my way, I'll happily accept it."

He said that he had developed this mindset since he was 24-years-old.

"I've never attached a lot of value to external things ever since I was probably 24-25. It goes back to that old cliché of 'focusing on the process'. You do your job well and all these other things take care of themselves. I have never thought about things like how much money I'm making, whether I'm playing for India or where my place is in the hierarchy," he said.

'I'm at my peak, physically, mentally and skill-wise' - Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel took 32 wickets in 15 matches in IPL 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, a joint-record with Dwayne Bravo for the most scalps in a season.

The 31-year-old affirmed that he is feeling at the top of his game right now. Asked if this is the best he has felt physically and with ball in hand, Harshal said:

"One hundred per cent. I wrote in one of my Instagram posts in 2019 after I had a record-breaking Ranji Trophy season that I've never felt more confident with the ball in hand and with my body. Obviously the physical part came with a lot of back-end work. I'd been training for three-four years."

He said he himself studied strength and conditioning and helped develop his own fitness programs.

"I received a little bit of input from the Team India trainers, but largely I've created my own programmes that have come on the back of three years of intense studying of strength and conditioning principles. These are based on my own experiences, from seeing people around me and understanding the problems cricketers face in terms of performance and training," he said.

He also rubbished the notion that cricketers start to physically deteriorate after 30.

"They say we start deteriorating at 30, which is absurd if you've learnt strength and conditioning. That is supposed to be your physical peak. I'm at my physical and mental peak. Skill-wise also I'm at my peak," he said.

Talking about his interest in strength and conditioning and why he studied it, he said:

"I've always been driven by the question 'Why?' If I see something happen, I ask why. Why are things like this? What can I do better? Can I learn the basics of this? If there's something I know that others don't and if it can give me an advantage, why not? That's what got me interested in S&C."

" Also, when you're on the fringes and not playing a high level of cricket, there aren't a lot of quality professionals around to train you. That also served as motivation - that if I can figure this out myself and do a little bit of studying and learn the basic principles, start experimenting, maybe I can take my game to another level," he added.

Harshal Patel is expected to be in action next in the T20I series against West Indies at home.