IPL 2022, Eliminator 2: Harshal Patel wants to bowl in tough situations

Harshal Patel said that he likes to bowl under pressure, while the bowler praised Rajat Patidar, who scored a century in the Eliminator match

Harshal Patel, one of the architects of Royal Challengers Bangalore's win over Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday, said that he likes to bowl under pressure, while the bowler praised Rajat Patidar, who scored a century in the Eliminator match.

He said that he always wanted to test himself under pressure by bowling in the slog overs.

"I want to bowl in tough situations. Whether I would be able to deliver or not, I don't really know, I can't say. But I want to be in those situations, there is no doubt about that and I have been wanting to do that for the past 2-3 years, I have been doing that for Haryana, and I wanted to do it at the bigger stage and I will continue to put myself in that situation," Patel said in the post-match press conference.

Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 14 runs in the Eliminator clash of IPL 2022 here at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Calling Rajat Patidar whose unbeaten century led RCB to victory a "special player", Patel said, "The way he played, I really don't need to say anything. We have been seeing this calibre in the practice games. Even last year when he was with us, he got a few opportunities but could not do justice to his talent and calibre. We knew he was a special player. When he came in as a replacement player this year, we looked determined."

In this year's mega auction, Patidar remained unsold in IPL 2022, but due to the injury to one of RCB's players, he got a chance this season as a replacement.

Patel injured his right hand while fielding during a match against Gujarat Titans.

Talking about his injury, he said, "Luckily, I did not have to make any changes to my skill because the skin superficially has healed well. So, I could bowl my slower deliveries and whatever I wanted to bowl. We tried everything in practice yesterday and I bowled 30-40 deliveries. I was pretty confident that this will hold up as long as I don't get another impact. I did not have to make changes, luckily it healed."

There was a time when Super Giants needed 35 runs off 18 deliveries and that's when Harshal struck. "I was nervous because you are defending 35 of 18. When there was a wide and they got six runs, I realised that the wide yorker wasn't coming through today. So, I thought it was better to follow the plan that worked for me in the first two overs. The idea was to get KL and Stoinis out, luckily that worked," he added.

RCB will now face Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahemdabad on Friday for a place in the final against Gujarat Titans.