'I had a very bad day': Harshal recalls his 37-run over against Jadeja, says 'couldn’t execute a single yorker'

Jadeja slammed five sixes -- which included one off a no-ball -- and a four off Harshal, who had taken three wickets and given away just 14 runs in the three overs.

It was perhaps a "bad day at the office" for Harshal Patel when he conceded 37 runs in a single over in the IPL 2021 clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings. Known for his pace variations and deceptive off-cutters, Harshal bowled the joint-most expensive in the IPL's history after all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja produced a 28-ball 62 blitz at the Wankhede.

Harshal Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. (IPL)

Jadeja slammed five sixes -- which included one off a no-ball -- and a four off Harshal, who had taken three wickets and given away just 14 runs in the three overs he bowled previously.

The left-handed dasher started his onslaught with a couple of maximums and a no-ball that went for six. He hit another six on the next delivery, making it four in four and reaching his half-century. On the last two deliveries, Jadeja finished his whirlwind with a six and a four and made it the most expensive 20th over in the tournament's history.

Though Harshal (3/51) was the most successful bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore, he added an unwanted record to his name. Recalling his "mistakes" in the contest, Harshal said that he was unable to put his yorkers into use. But the Haryana bowler explained how not letting such instances get under the skin helps a player to "sustain".

"The one thing you learn in the professional sport after 11 years is that you can’t take anything too seriously. As if you start taking these things too seriously, it will be very difficult to sustain. Yes, I made a few mistakes (in that over). I didn’t execute what I wanted to and the batter (Ravindra Jadeja) had a fantastic day. If he had an average day, he would probably miss one or two. So, I had a very bad day as I couldn’t execute a single yorker and he got under each and every delivery," Harshal told CricTracker in a recent interview.

Harshal, who finished the previous IPL edition with record-equalling 32 wickets including a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians, also earned India call-up for the New Zealand T20Is at home. He also underlined the "error of execution" in that particular over against Jadeja.

"So, you need to accept, take it in your stride and move on. You very quickly understand that it was error in execution. I suddenly didn’t become a bad bowler because prior to that over, I had picked up three wickets. So, my skill was always there, it was just the matter of execution," he further said.

The 31-year-old medium-pacer also shared his experience of working with Rahul Dravid, saying how the head coach emphasized on "enjoy the moment" element while playing the sport. Harshal picked up four wickets in two games while returning an economy rate of 7.28.

"He told me: 'you have come here after playing 10 years of domestic cricket, you obviously know your game really well, you had a brilliant IPL and I don’t want you to do anything different. You are very confident and you know what you want to do on the field and we’ll back you, just be very clear in your head and enjoy the moment'”.