My inspiration
Harshal Patel took 23 wickets at an impressive average of 11 in the 2008-09 Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy. He later made his one-day debut for Gujarat in 2009-10. He was also the part of the ‘India Under-19’ squad for ‘2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup’ but didn’t get the opportunity to play. Ignored by the Gujarat selectors for the first-class side, Harshal moved to Haryana and made an immediate impact in his debut Ranji Trophy season in 2011-12, running through Karnataka and Rajasthan with consecutive eight-fors in the quarter-final and semi-final. Harshal Patel had a sensational show in the 2019 Ranji Trophy season, when he picked up 52 wickets in 9 games and broke a 36-year-old Haryana record, The Ahmedabad-born cricketer also made 292 runs at an average of 22.46, batting mostly at No. 8 in the just concluded Ranji season. In T20s, Patel opened and scored 374 runs at an average of 31.17 in 12 games in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. IPL Career Mumbai Indians bought him for Rs. 8 lakhs for the 2010 Indian Premier League in the auction but as fate would have it, Patel didn’t get a single chance to prove his mettle. The 29-year-old then became a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012. However, he was still largely seen as a back-up seamer in the franchise set-up, instead of a first-choice option. He did not get a game in IPL 2013, but was bought back by the franchise in the 2014 player auction for INR 40 lakh. The 2015 season was perhaps the maxima of his performance as he played in 15 matches and took 17 scalps. In 2018 he was roped in by Delhi Capitals. Harshal Patel was one of the few players to be retained by Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2020; the franchise has shown faith in the 29-year-old seamer who has been a consistent performer for Haryana in first-class cricket In his 43-match IPL career, he has taken 43 wickets and will be hoping that under Ricky Ponting’s coaching, he will get more chances to show his true caliber.