Harshal Patel shined with the ball in his maiden outing for the Indian team on November 19, 2021. In the 2nd T20I versus New Zealand, the right-arm bowler took two wickets and surrendered 25 runs in his four overs spell. Here is what Harshal Patel Speaks About De Villiers.

Harshal Patel Speaks About De Villiers

Patel has recently admitted that South African great AB de Villiers had a significant influence on his career. Patel also said that, he went to de Villiers and asked about how he could limit the ‘big overs,’ in which he loses 15 to 20 runs in an over.

De Villiers also instructed Patel that if a batsman knocks a brilliant delivery produced by him for a boundary, he should not modify his bowling style. AB de Villiers also advised Patel that when a decent ball is struck for a boundary, the batsman would anticipate the bowler’s methods to improve. Patel said that de Villiers’ guidance will stick with him throughout his tenure.

“AB has had a massive impact on my career. I have always been a silent observer of him. Recently when we were starting our campaign in the UAE I asked him, ‘How do I reduce my big overs? I have bowled 12-15 even 20-run overs in the IPL so how should I reduce those?’ So he told me, ‘When a batsman hits your good delivery, you shouldn’t change that”.

“You should constantly force the batsman to hit your good deliveries only. If you get hit once on a good delivery then if you change it, the batsman is already expecting that.’ That is something that stayed with me throughout the second leg of IPL and will stay with me throughout my career,” said Patel.

Angles are a big part of my bowling: Harshal Patel

According to Harshal Patel, Angles are a big component of how he bowls. Patel also discussed how angles might make things tough for the batter. The pacer finished by saying that generating variations when bowling seems to be another technique he plans to expand to his portfolio.

“Angles are a big part of my bowling because, to give an example, if you bowl a fourth-stump line from close to the stumps, it remains a fourth-stump line but if you bowl from the corner of the crease it still comes in for the batter and sort of becomes difficult to hit through the offside”.

“So angles have always been a big part of my game and I use them to good effect. I think it’s another thing that I can add to my repertoire without trying to do too many different things,” concluded Harshal Patel.

Also read: Indian Bowlers Bounced Back And Put Us Under Pressure: Southee