Harshal Patel turns 31: 5 things you didn’t know about RCB’s bowling star

Team India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel turns 31 today. The medium-pacer came into the limelight following a stellar Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season.

Harshal created history during IPL 2021, breaking the record for the most wickets by an uncapped bowler in a season. He also equaled West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo’s record of most wickets in an IPL season (32).

Harshal ended IPL 2021 with 32 wickets in 15 matches at a strike rate of 10.56. He picked up a five-for and a hat-trick, both against Mumbai Indians.

Following his exploits for RCB, Harshal was named in the Indian team for the T20I series against New Zealand at home.

He made an immediate impact, claiming 2 for 25 on debut in Ranchi and followed it up with 2 for 26 and a quickfire 18 in Kolkata.

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5 interesting facts to know about Harshal Patel

Having toiled for a number of numbers on the domestic circuit and in the IPL, Harshal has found belated fame. On his birthday, we look at some interesting facts about the medium pacer.

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#1 Harshal did not move to the US with family

Harshal Patel in action during the third T20I between India and New Zealand. Pic: Getty Images

When he was 15, Harshal’s family moved to the United States of America (USA). Harshal had a chance to lead a comfortable life in in New Jersey. Instead, he chose to stay back in Ahmedabad and toil to pursue his cricketing dream.

Harshal’s coach Tarak Trivedi convinced the cricketer’s parents to let him stay back in India and work towards fulfilling his cricketing ambitions. Harshal found support from brother Tapan as well. His efforts bore fruit as he was chosen in the squad for the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

Speaking to Hindustan Times after being picked for the U-19 World Cup, Harshal had said:

“I always wanted to make a career in cricket. My coach Tarak Trivedi convinced my parents to let me pursue my dream here and I am happy that I have made everyone proud by making it to the World Cup squad.”

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#2 Harshal made his IPL debut back in IPL 2012

Although he was a relatively unknown name on the IPL circuit until the recently-concluded season, Harshal made his debut in the T20 league way back in 2012.

Mumbai Indians (MI) bought him for ₹8 lakh for the IPL 2010 season but the youngster did not get a chance to prove his mettle.

Harshal made his IPL debut for RCB in IPL 2012. He claimed nine wickets in 12 matches during the season at a strike rate of 27.33 and an economy rate of 8.29.

He had a decent IPL 2015 season during which he claimed 17 wickets in 15 matches. But he had to wait until IPL 2021 to make his mark in the tournament.

#3 Harshal moved to Haryana from Gujarat

Harshal Patel plays a shot during the third T20I against New Zealand. Pic: Getty Images

Since he found it hard to break into the Gujarat domestic team, Harshal moved to Haryana. He made his presence felt right away. In his debut Ranji Trophy season in 2011-12, he ran through the Karnataka and Rajasthan batting line-ups, claiming eight-fors in the quarter-final and semi-final. He ended the Ranji Trophy season with 28 wickets.

In a decade-long first-class career, he has claimed 226 wickets in 64 matches at an average of 23.56 with 12 five-wicket hauls. He has also struck five half-centuries with a best of 83. In fact, Harshal even opened the batting for Haryana in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021/22.

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#4 Harshal and Tewatia’s six-hitting competition

During IPL 2021, former India batter Ajay Jadeja had narrated an interesting story about a six-hitting competition that used to take place between Harshal and his Haryana teammate Rahul Tewatia. The latter represented Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2021.

Jadeja was the captain of Haryana during his last season in first-class cricket - 2013. Recalling that both Harshal and Tewatia loved hitting sixes, Jadeja told Cricbuzz:

“I remember Harshal Patel and Rahul Tewatia used to go out in the middle after practice and have a separate six-hitting competition. Tewatia didn’t play in the starting XI those days since (Yuzvendra) Chahal was part of the team. But I can distinctly recall that Tewatia's sixes were nowhere close to the distance Harshal’s strokes covered. The world hasn't seen his batting ability yet. He has all the attributes to be a good all-round player.”

Harshal struck 18 off 11 in the third T20I against New Zealand in Kolkata. He hit a few attractive strokes before being dismissed hit-wicket.

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#5 7th Indian to bag player of the match on T20I debut

Harshal Patel celebrates a wicket with Rohit Sharma. Pic: Getty Images

Harshal made an instant impact on his T20I debut. He claimed 2 for 25 in the game at Ranchi, dismissing Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips. The pacer was named Player of the Match for his impressive bowling effort. Harshal thus became only the seventh Indian to win the man of the match award on his T20I debut.

Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was the first Indian to achieve the feat. He did so in India’s first T20I match, which was played against South Africa in December 2006. Karthik scored an unbeaten 31* off 28 as India chased down a target of 127.

Apart from Karthik, Subramaniam Badrinath, Pragyan Ojha, Axar Patel, Barinder Sran and Navdeep Saini (who incidentally is also celebrating his birthday today) won the player of their match on their T20I debut.