'IPL franchises told me that they'll bid for me but no one did': Star India pacer says he felt 'betrayed' and 'lied to'

IPL 2022: India's 31-year-old pacer has revealed that he was told by members of each franchise that the team will show faith in him during the auction but nothing came to fruition.

The road to stardom or superstardom is never an easy one, and who knows it better than our IPL stars, who after years of slogging in domestic cricket, finally get their dues and make it to top-flight cricket. Ask Jasprit Bumrah, or Hardik Pandya, who had to prove their mettle for Mumbai Indians to make it big in Indian cricket. Or T Natarajan, who had a stellar IPL 2022 for Sunrisers Hyderabad which paved the way for his India debut. Or Venkatesh Iyer, whose brilliant knocks for Kolkata Knight Riders last year fetched him his India cap on the tour of South Africa. These are just some of the many players who have had to grind it out before realising their dream of playing for India.

Harshal Patel has played 8 T20Is for India.  (BCCI)

Something similar happened with Harshal Patel. Before finishing IPL 2021 with a record-equalling 32 wickets, Harshal spent years playing for the franchise but couldn’t quite make an impact. In fact, Harshal had spent six seasons with RCB in his first stint but was nothing more than an afterthought. From then to 2022, where Harshal ended up fetching ₹10.75 crore at the auction, the road was filled with obstacles. In 2018, Harshal packed his bags and moved to Delhi Capitals at his base price of ₹20 lakh. For the 31-year-old quick, money was never a factor as he always just wanted to play, so while the move to DC came at the right time, there were a few disappointments along the way.

"I just wanted someone to raise the paddle for me. It's not about the money, I just wanted to play. The ironic thing was there were at least 3-4 players from different franchises who said they were going to bid for me. But no one did. At that time, I felt that this is betrayal, I have been cheated. I was just in this spiral of dark thoughts. So, I started the process of building my game all over again." Harshal told actor, television and cricket presenter Gaurav Kapur on his famous YouTube Show 'Breakfast with Champions'.

In 2018, Harshal picked up seven wickets from 5 matches for DC, and got just two more matches in IPL 2019. Thanks to some impressive all-round performances during the domestic season of 2019-20, Harshal was retained by the franchise ahead of IPL 2020 but his appearances were limited to not more than five matches. Then came IPL 2021 and under Virat Kohli, Harshal, playing for RCB, won the Purple Cap and has not looked back since.