Harshal Patel of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) confessed that since the IPL 2023 tournament began, his execution hasn’t been great with the ball. This came after Harshal was dropped from the RCB XI in their match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at home in Bengaluru on April 23, 2023.
RCB came into this match on the back of an excellent win over Punjab Kings in Mohali and wanted tp continue the winning momentum. They were once again captained by Virat Kohli as they don the green jersey and original captain Faf du Plessis will only bat as an Impact player.
Ahead of the toss, RCB stunned everyone by sidelining Harshal Patel from the eleven. Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to bowl first on a dry wicket.
Royal Challengers didn’t name Harshal Patel in the starting eleven. RCB batted first, and Harshal is among the substitutes. This means Harshal could come into the eleven as an Impact player in the second innings when RCB bowls.
Every Spell I Gave 2-3 Freebies- Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel, who was the Purple Cap winner in IPL 2021 with 32 scalps to his name, has not been in the best of form with the ball this year in IPL 2023. In 6 matches, he has 7 wickets to his name, but they have come at an economy of 10.10.
Talking to the IPL commentators ahead of the RCB vs RR game, Harshal Patel talked about why he is missing this match and the reason behind his below-par performance so far in IPL 2023.
He said: “Since the tournament began this year, my execution hasn’t been great. That’s what we analyzed during the review meetings with the coaches, every spell I gave 2-3 freebies. However, those freebies are reduced and my execution is getting better. Yorkers are slower balls are getting better, so I can see an upward trend.
Our processes are clear before every game, we try to stick to that. In the three games that we lost, two were really close so we aren’t far from our best performance. Just need to correct the small things here and there.
(On playing in the afternoon) The wicket isn’t as good as it is in the evening, but as the sun goes down it gets better. So I reckon it will be a bit dry, and cutters and slower ones will be more effective. These conditions are better suited for bowlers in general.”
RR– Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (capt. & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, R Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
RCB– Virat Kohli (capt.), Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Mohammed Siraj, Vijaykumar Vyshak