Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has picked Harshal Patel as the standout performer of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise in the recently concluded Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 between Faf Du Plessis’ men and KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday. Speed merchants Patel and Josh Hazlewood kept things airtight for the LSG batters in the high-scoring contest to make sure Bangalore enter Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2022.
Patel and Hazelwood’s heroics in the death overs paved the way for the Faf Du Plessis-led RCB side to register a thrilling 14-win over the Rahul-led LSG at the Eden Gardens. Though Hazelwood turned the tie on its head by bowling a superb 19th over, former Indian batter Manjrekar still believes that it was Patel who emerged as the most impressive bowler in the Eliminator between Bangalore and Lucknow.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after RCB picked up a memorable win over LSG in the IPL 2022 playoffs, Manjrekar explained why Patel was the standout performer for the Virat Kohli-starrer side. “Josh Hazlewood picked up important wickets. When a bowler takes wickets, he has definitely made a contribution. But for me, Harshal Patel was most impressive. The one big obstacle for LSG in the chase was Harshal Patel,” Manjrekar said.
Hazlewood bagged three wickets and leaked 43 runs against Lucknow while Patel picked up a crucial wicket of Marcos Stoinis. Conceding 25 runs in 4 overs, RCB’s star bowler Patel defended 24 runs in the final over to script Bangalore’s impressive win over Lucknow at Eden Gardens. “He comes to bowl in the second half, so although Lucknow were in the chase, Harshal’s four overs were left. In such a key match to have such an economy rate (6.20), despite bowling the tough overs, hats off to him,” Manjrekar added. RCB’s middle-order batter Rajat Patidar, who smashed a sublime century (112* off 54 balls) was named the Player of the Match.
