IPL 2021: ‘Virat Kohli gives you the space to do your thing,’ says Harshal Patel

Virat Kohli and Harshal Patel

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) medium-pacer Harshal Patel emerged as one of the brightest uncapped stars of IPL 2021. The 30-year-old held the ‘Purple Cap’ for claiming 17 wickets in just seven matches before the tournament was suspended.

Harshal Patel was traded to RCB from Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of this season. The Haryana cricketer failed to get much from any of the franchises he played for before the 14th edition of the tournament. In a recent interview, Patel mentioned how Challengers skipper Virat Kohli was a vital cog in boosting his confidence even during his poor outings.

“The moment I was traded, Virat sent me a message, “welcome back, you are going to play here”. That made a big impact on my confidence and I realized this is a team where I can finally showcase all my skills. He gives you the space to do your thing. Even if you don’t execute at times he understands better than anybody that on a batter’s day if they get hold of a bowler, you are going to go for runs,” said Patel as quoted by the Hindustan Times.

Harshal Patel talks about a positive environment in the RCB dugout

The bowling all-rounder mentioned a positive environment was kept in the camp of the Bangalore-based franchise. He said that the players were aware of their tasks and didn’t let any other noise come into their dugout from outside.

“Whenever we are unable to execute, or we stray from our plans, when we sit for the review the only talk is about what we do to stay on the path, how do we stay in the mindset to execute more often than not. We don’t let any other noise come into that environment,” added Patel.

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