IPL 2021: "Harshal Patel has been the bowler of the season"

Gautam Gambhir has praised Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel for carrying out his team's death bowling duties successfully in IPL 2021.

Patel received plaudits for his game-changing abilities with the ball for his side. The Gujrat-born bowling all-rounder is the current highest wicket-taker in the IPL 2021, with 26 wickets to his name in 12 matches for the RCB. Even more impressive for Harshal Patel is his bowling average, which is just 14.3 runs per wicket. During this edition of the IPL, he has taken a wicket in every 10.23 balls he has bowled.

While speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Gambhir commended Patel's efforts this season. The former Indian cricketer said that Patel has bowled the most difficult overs for his franchise successfully. This is what the 39-year old had to say about 'Purple Patel' :

"Harshal Patel has been the bowler of the season. He has bowled the most difficult overs for his side. Bowling death overs continuously against so many great batters in this IPL, and taking 5 wickets in one match and 4 in the other against MI, shows how successful he has been."

The main issue with the RCB in Phase 2 of the IPL is their inability to take wickets inside the powerplay. The Kohli-led franchise hasn't been able to take a single wicket in the first six overs. In 30 powerplay overs bowled by RCB bowlers in the UAE, they have managed zero wickets and have leaked runs at 9.2 runs per over.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper praised Yuzvendra Chahal as well for helping Patel. He lauded the duo for helping their side to get back into the game after poor starts in the powerplay. He said:

"Despite having poor stars with the ball in the powerplay, Bangalore managed to bounce back and win their matches. All the credit goes to Harshal Patel and Yuzi Chahal."

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Gambhir opined that batters only set the team up to perform well, but bowlers are the ones who win the games for their side. He even said that if the batters won the games, RCB would've won IPL 3-4 times by now.

The Bangalore-based franchise has a rich history of having great T20 batsmen in their ranks. A few of the big names include Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson, KL Rahul, Ab de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh. The major reason why the RCB has not won any IPL trophy is because of their non-penetrative death bowling over the years.

Gambhir credited Harshal Patel for taking up responsibility for bowling in the death overs and said:

"The main issue over the past few years for the RCB was their death bowling. And Harshal has now taken that responsibility on his shoulders single-handedly. That's why he has the purple cap as well."

"You can talk about Kohli, Ab de Villiers, or Maxwell, but the truth is batters only set the team up but bowlers win you matches. Because if the batters would've won the games, RCB would've won IPL 3 or 4 times."

Royal Challengers Bangalore's next clash is against a team at the foot of the table, Sunrisers Hyderabad. Match 52 of the IPL 2021 will be played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today (October 6). RCB will look to solidify their chances of finishing in the top two of the IPL 2021 points table.