Harshal Patel explains his “Slower Ball Strategy”

Ahead of the forthcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, India fast bowler Harshal Patel spoke about his bowling and variations.

As their greatest weapon, Jasprit Bumrah, has been ruled out of the World Cup, India is now battling to construct its fast bowling combination. As a result, a lot will be riding on Harshal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on sporty wickets in Australia.

Harshal discussed how his slower ball strategy is influenced by a variety of circumstances, including the location, weather conditions such as dew, and, most significantly, the batter. As Harshal points out, the slower delivery is useless if the hitter, like his India and RCB counterpart Virat Kohli, is immune to it.

In an interview with reporters of ESPN, Harshal stated, “I’ve got two. They are both off-cutters. The distinction is whether or not I wish to use the pitch, and whether or not the pitch allows for natural fluctuation. If I don’t want to utilise the pitch, I attempt to bowl it from the front of my hand to get that topspin. So it works on better pitches with more bounce, where even if you don’t mislead the batter in the air, it sometimes just kicks enough on you as a hitter, and that doesn’t enable you to have timing and trajectory in the shot – it goes higher rather than flatter.”

“To Virat, for sure, since he’s not the kind to muscle you.  When individuals are attempting to muscle you, these slower delivery are more effective. When I’ve played against Virat, he always steps out, makes it a full toss, and plays it past midwicket.

“If he gets good bat on the ball, he’ll score a boundary between long-on and midwicket, or he’ll get a double.  And you have to adjust when someone plays the delivery like that. However, when someone is going deep in the crease and just attempting to slog you over long-on, deep midwicket, or down the ground, the slower ball becomes much more effective,” Harshal explained.

Harshal’s slower deliveries rose to attention during the IPL 2021, when he was the tournament’s best wicket scorer, earning him the Purple Cap. He got rid of the Mumbai Indians’ standout duo of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard for Royal Challengers Bangalore in one of the encounters. It was the start of what would become Harshal’s go-to option, and while the 31-year-old fast hasn’t had much success since returning from injury, he has been generating them often.