IPL 2022 | Qualifier 2 | RR vs RCB | Faf’s stealthy warrior: Harshal Patel

So, it is time for Qualifier 2 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as Rajasthan Royals (RR) go up against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The winner will go up against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Grand Finale on 29th May.

RCB will be brimming with confidence thanks to their brilliant win in the Eliminator against LSG; RR, on the other hand, will be looking to mend the holes from their defeat in Qualifier 1 against GT.

Both the teams boast of quite powerful batting lineups. But for RCB, significant improvement in their bowling efforts has taken them thus far in the tournament. While there have been some brilliant performances from their bowlers in a few matches, Harshal Patel has been a man who has been consistent throughout the tournament. He has been brilliant in the middle overs and has given his team the advantage by controlling the opposition’s scoring rate in the crucial junctures of a match.

Let us take a look at his record in the 15th edition of IPL:

Harshal Patel in IPL 2022:

Innings: 14 Balls Bowled: 302 Runs Conceded: 381 Wickets: 19 Economy Rate: 7.57 Balls Per Wicket: 15.89 Runs Per Wicket: 20.05

The records clearly state that he has been economical and has chipped in wickets. But what makes Patel special is his ability to stop the flow of runs in the middle overs.

Harshal Patel in middle overs in IPL 2022:

Innings: 14 Balls Bowled: 168 Runs Conceded: 172 Wickets: 10 Economy Rate: 6.14 Balls Per Wicket: 16.8 Runs Per Wicket: 17.2

The stats show that Harshal has been more than impressive in the middle overs. He has not only controlled the scoring rate of the opposition in the middle overs but also chipped in with wickets for the team. Many experts have often opined that a T20 match is won or lost in the middle overs of the game.

We will try and determine what kind of effect Patel might have in today’s match. For that, let us take a look at Patel’s record against the batters of the RR team.

Harshal Patel’s record against RR batters

Harshal Patel will be bowling most of his overs against Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, and R Parag. Although, as is evident from the table, except Hetmyer, Harshal has held an upper hand over the other batters. 

With his slowers and spot on yorkers, Harshal is a very deceptive bowler. The Indian medium pacer will be the stealthy warrior for Du Plessis, who can breach a hole in the RR batting without anyone noticing.