Team India pace bowler Harshal Patel has said that bowling slower balls are genuine and it is not an act of deception from his side. He also shared that bowling slower balls takes a lot more out of him compared to yorkers as well.
The veteran pacer came into the limelight during IPL 2021. He also won the Purple Cap by claiming 32 wickets in 15 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). During the edition, he made a massive impact with his slower balls, claiming a lot of scalps.
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo’s The Cricket Monthly, he opened up about the same and explained:
“Actually, for some people it is part of the deception. For me, it is a genuine grunt, because it is an effort ball. So if I’m bowling six yorkers and I’m bowling six slower balls, I’m expending more energy on the six slower balls, so that’s how much it takes out of my body.”
The writing on the wall says it all 💯💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/8IpdrP5Gnm
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Harshal Patel also added that his high arm speed also helps to play in the grunt coming out. He elaborated:
“When you have a very high arm speed, your finish and your follow-through is also going to be quicker because all that energy has to go somewhere, right? It has to break somewhere. If you slow down my videos of bowling a slower ball and a normal delivery, you will actually see the difference – my finish will be much more energetic with the slower ball.”
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“I try and hold the ball as loosely as I can” – Hardik Pandya
Since his return from injury, Harshal Patel has been going through a tough time with the ball. He was quite expensive in the warm-up match against Western Australia XI on Monday, October 10, giving away 49 runs in his four overs.
He also said that one of the challenges of bowling the slower ball is to try and make sure that the arm speed remains the same as other balls as well.
“I try and hold the ball as loosely as I can – almost in my palm, even though I have my fingers over it. If you try to snatch it out of my hand, you’ll be able to do it without any effort at all. And you make sure that you bowl it as quickly as you can,” Harshal revealed.
The experienced pacer also added that he doesn’t depend much on the wicket, but instead depends on deception in the air as well. He has far played in 23 T20Is for India, picking up 26 wickets at an average of 26.96 and an economy rate of 9.20 as well.
“For me, the deception starts in the air. The two most important things that I keep in mind is arm speed, first of all. Even though it’s counterintuitive, my slower balls are actually faster [in terms of arm speed] than my quick deliveries. So I have to put more on to the ball when I bowl my slower balls,” Harshal Patel concluded.
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