Decoding Harshal Patel's dream season in IPL 2024
Though Punjab Kings finished ninth in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) team standings, their star pacer Harshal Patel enjoyed a dream season. With 24 scalps, he was the leading wicket-taker at the end of the league stage. The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowler can clinch the Purple Cap for the second time. Let's decode his season stats.
Decoding his season stats
Harshal claimed 24 wickets across 14 games at 19.87. While his economy of 9.73 is a bit on a higher side, 3/15 read his best figures. Mumbai Indians' Jasprit Bumrah (20) was the only other bowler to touch the 20-wicket mark in the league stage. Bumrah and Harshal also own the joint-most three-plus wicket-hauls this year (4). The latter went wicket-less just twice.
16 wickets in death overs
As per ESPNcricinfo, 16 of Harshal's wickets in the season came in the final five overs. His economy in this phase was 10.38. No other bowler claimed even 12 wickets in this phase in the league stage. Bumrah trails the PBKS star in this regard with 11 scalps.
Harshal joins Andrew Tye
Meanwhile, Harshal equaled Andre Tye in terms of most wickets by a PBKS bowler in a season. The latter claimed 24 wickets in the 2018 edition. Notably, this was Harshal's maiden assignment in PBKS colors. The right-arm seamer fetched a whopping sum of Rs. 11.75 crore from PBKS in the 2024 player auction.
Fourth pacer with this record
Notably, Harshal's tally of 32 scalps in IPL 2021 is the joint-most for a bowler in an IPL edition. The pacer has now become the first Indian and fourth player overall to touch the 24-wicket mark in multiple IPL seasons. He has joined the likes of Lasith Malinga, Kagiso Rabada, and Dwayne Bravo. All the aforementioned names have accomplished the feat twice.
Second Purple Cap loading for Harshal?
Among bowlers featuring in the playoffs, KKR's Varun Chakravarthy is closest to Harshal's tally with 18 wickets. SRH's T Natarajan and RR's Yuzvendra Chahal have claimed 17 wickets apiece. Notably, all four playoff-bound teams can play three games at maximum from here on. Hence, Harshal has a great chance to bag his second Purple Cap.
Harshal can join this elite list
Notably, Harshal can become the first bowler to claim Purple Caps for two different teams. He served RCB in the 2021 season. Meanwhile, SRH's Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2016 and 2017) and former CSK ace Bravo (2013 and 2015) are the only other bowlers to finish multiple IPL seasons as the highest wicket-taker.
