'I cried three-four times every day,' Says a Heartbroken Harshal Patel

image-lf3tebjjHarshal Patel during an interaction on RCB Podcast

During last year's Indian Premier League, when Harshal Patel was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in Mumbai, his elder sister passed away back home. But due to quarantine restrictions, he was unable to be with his family at the time of grief. Recalling that phase of his life, Harshal said in a podcast to RCB that he cried three to four times a day, but tried to find happiness in the birth of his son.


"When my sister passed away, I was in grief for a week. She passed away on April 9 (2022). I was in quarantine. I was talking to my niece and nephew and everyone back home. I wanted to go, hug them and cry with them. Then seven days later, my son was born. So, I kind of went numb for a week, 10 days. I didn't really know what I was feeling - whether I should be happy, whether I should be sad. It would all come in waves," Patel said on the RCB podcast.

"There were times when I probably cried three-four times in my room every day. And then I would see my son on FaceTime and, and be extremely joyful. When you have those polar emotions, pulling at you constantly, it can be quite draining," he added.

In IPL 2022, the bowler played 15 matches from which he picked up 19 wickets. Earlier in the 2021 edition of the tournament, he was the season's highest wicket-taker with 32 wickets for RCB, who had released Patel ahead of the auction but bought him back for a whopping INR 10.75 crore. 


"A lot of people asked me what my expectations were. I said I was expecting probably 6 or 7 crores because I had looked at people in my category for the past three or four seasons, and none of them made more money than that in the big auction. So I thought I can safely expect to make 5-6-7 crore. But a lot of people around me told me that it could go into double figures," the RCB pacer said.

However, the seamer didn't justify his price tag as he failed to live upto the expectation in the IPL 2022.

Meanwhile, the 16th season of the tournament, IPL 2023, will start on 31 March 2023, and end on 28 May 2023.