In the current 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Harshal Patel leads Punjab Kings (PBKS) in wickets taken. The medium pacer, who bowls right-arm, has given his team vital breakthroughs with his nuanced change of pace.
The right-arm medium pacer Harshal Patel has undoubtedly impressed with his skill set in an IPL season when the bat has dominated the ball like never before, even if he was not taken into consideration when the selectors convened to choose India’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The 33-year-old pacer is now leading the race to win the Purple Cap after passing Jasprit Bumrah once more.
In the 65th IPL 2024 game between Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, Harshal was perfect in terms of line and length and had the upper hand over the batters.
Taking huge wickets of Donovan Ferreira and Riyan Parag with the ball in hand, the Gujarati-born Sanand player was one of Punjab’s most impressive performers.
In particular, Riyan’s wicket was more important to Punjab than any other wicket throughout the match since the right-handed batsman was about to score another large run until Harshal outperformed him in a classic style.
With a deceptively sluggish delivery, Harshal stumped Riyan by sidestepping his shot. Trapped in front of his stumps with an individual score of 48 off just 34 balls, the middle-order hitter attempted to swing across the line but failed to follow the trajectory of the ball.
At the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala on May 5, Punjab Kings hosted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 53rd match of the season. Notably, Harshal had outwitted MS Dhoni with a similar ball that dropped on the latter and cannoned into his stumps.
Having taken 20 wickets in 13 matches this season, Mumbai Indians pace ace Bumrah is now two wickets behind Harshal as he concluded his spell with figures of 2/28.
