Gone are those days when India had shortage of quality fast bowlers. The current lot has many pacers who can trouble the best in the business. One of them is Harshal Patel, who received his maiden Team India cap in November last year. Having made his professional debut in 2009, the right-arm pacer has been around the scenes since a while.

However, it was the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which saw Harshal’s emergence as a wicket-taking machine. Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, the fast bowler made the ball talk throughout the season and bagged the purple cap. In fact, his tally of 32 wickets is joint-highest for any bowler in any IPL season. Chennai Super Kings’ Dwayne Bravo took as many wickets in 2013.

While Harshal’s stellar efforts couldn’t take RCB to the elusive title, it earned him a maiden Team India call-up. The pacer was selected for India’s three-match T20I series against New Zealand at home. After warming the benches in the opening clash, Patel got to play the next two games and he didn’t disappoint. The 31-year-old returned with four wickets as India whitewashed the Kiwis 3-0.

While Patel has many weapons in his arsenal, his deceptive slower deliveries have particularly impressed the cricket fraternity. Nailing pin-point yorkers is also well within his reach. All these factors make Patel a force to reckon with in white-ball cricket. He has also troubled batters in red-ball cricket as well. Hence, the pacer’s future in international cricket is looking pretty bright at the moment.

In an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Harshal opened about many things and made some interesting revelations as well. From shredding light on his stint with RCB to his international debut, let’s look at how the star pacer responded to our queries.

CricTracker caught up with Harshal Patel for a rapid-fire chit-chat.

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