Harshal Patel

After his debut in the IPL 2012 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Harshal Patel could not quite rise to the occasion. He showed promise in the early stages, but an ailing economy rate across multiple IPL seasons forced his departure from the RCB management. 

Born in Sanand, Gujarat, Harshal moved to Haryana after being overlooked by his home state for the 2011-12 domestic season. Harshal made Gujarat rue their decision by taking consecutive eight-wicket hauls for Haryana in the quarter-final and semi-final against Karnataka and Rajasthan, respectively.

The right-handed pace bowler and powerful lower-order batsman was a part of India’s squad for World T20 in 2010 but did not enjoy much success in India’s disappointing campaign. However, he was able to impress the Mumbai Indian’s selectors enough to value a selection in the IPL 2010, but did not get a chance to play. 

His services were acquired by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2011 and has stayed with them since. Harshal played a large portion of RCB’s matches in 2012 but couldn’t impress with his bowling techniques and was sidelined for the entire 2013 season and most of 2014 season of the IPL. In the IPL 2015, Harshal made a comeback with his form and enjoyed a fruitful IPL season

Not known for his batting, Harshal has worked hard on that aspect to showcase his power-hitting skills in the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He played a couple of free-flowing innings as an opener, including a 29-ball 54 unbeaten in a 10-wicket win against Jammu & Kashmir. He also claimed 5 for 21 in the match to give the perfect display of his potential as an all-rounder.

After the 2015 season of IPL, Harshal only managed 18 games in 5 seasons for RCB before being traded to Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2021 IPL. Taking just 16 wickets in 18 matches, he will have to prove himself to justify the faith the franchise has shown in his abilities.

(As of March 2021)