Harshal Patel may not have been considered when the selectors met to pick India's squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 tournament but the right-arm medium pacer has surely impressed with his skill set in an IPL season where the bat has dominated the ball like never before.
The 33-year-old pacer has moved past Jasprit Bumrah yet again to become the frontrunner in the race to bag the Purple Cap.
Harshal was immaculate in terms of his line and length and enjoyed an upper hand on the batters when Punjab met Rajasthan Royals in the 65th game of IPL 2024.
The Sanand-born (Gujarat) was one of the stand-out performers for Punjab with the ball in hand as he bagged the big wickets of Riyan Parag and Donovan Ferreira.
Riyan's wicket, in particular, was more crucial than any other wicket in the game for Punjab as the right-handed batter was looking set for another big score but Harshal outclassed him in his quintessential style.
Harshal bowled a well-disguised slower one that dipped on Riyan and outfoxed him. The middle-order batter tried to swing across the line but missed the ball's trajectory and was trapped in front of his stumps at an individual score of 48 off just 34 balls.
Notably, Harshal had outwitted MS Dhoni with a similar ball that dipped on the latter and cannoned into his stumps when Punjab Kings hosted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 53rd game of the season at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala on May 5.
Harshal finished his spell with figures of 2/28 and is now two wickets ahead of Mumbai Indians' pace spearhead Bumrah who has claimed 20 scalps in 13 matches this season.
Purple Cap Leaderboard
| S. No. |
Player |
Team |
Wickets |
| 1. |
Harshal Patel |
PBKS |
22 |
| 2. |
Jasprit Bumrah |
MI |
20 |
| 3. |
Varun Chakravarthy |
KKR |
18 |
| 4. |
Mukesh Kumar |
DC |
17 |
| 5. |
Arshdeep Singh |
PBKS |
17 |
