'The moment I was traded, Virat Kohli messaged me- you're going to play all games' - Hashal Patel on former skipper's motivation

Harshal Patel was the best bowler of IPL 2021 bagging 32 scalps from 15 games and played an instrumental role in helping the Royal Challengers Bangalore make back-to-back playoff appearances.  It needs to be noted that Harshal’s tally of 32 wickets is the joint-highest in the history of the tournament along with Caribbean all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who had registered the same number of scalps in the 2013 season.

Despite his outstanding performances, the Purple Cap holder has not been retained by RCB and will be going under the hammer during the IPL 2022 mega auction next week. Ahead of the two-day event, the 31-year-old has revealed how his former skipper Virat Kohli had encouraged him when he was traded to the Bengaluru-based franchise in the IPL 2021 auction. He mentioned the then captain had assured him that he would get to feature in all the games.

Virat Kohli gave me a lot of confidence, says Harshal Patel

“I looked at it as a great opportunity. Every time something like this happens, there’s uncertainty. You can hope for the best and see how you can contribute best. The moment I was traded, Virat messaged me saying, “You’re going to play all the games.” That gave me a lot of confidence – that here’s a captain who is giving you that assurance. I had enough confidence that if I got opportunities, I’d make the most of it,” said Harshal Patel while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.

Even though the three-time finalists made a hard decision of parting ways with Patel, he has said that one should not get carried away by such things and take it personally but, an individual should try hard and give his best instead of thinking about the results.

“I always believe whatever happens in the IPL, whether someone retains you or lets you go, you shouldn’t take it personally. Those decisions aren’t taken based on whether they like you as a person or not. It’s all about how you can contribute in that set-up, and if they felt you can’t contribute the way they want you to, then you’re not valuable to them anymore and you’re being traded to a team that has asked for you and has a role for you”, he said.

It would be interesting to see which team would be roping in the promising bowler in the next week’s IPL 2022 mega auction or whether he will be back in the same team that had released him in the first place.