IPL 2022: Harshal Patel is going to be special for rest of season too - Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis, captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2022 cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore, at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Pic/PTI

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis backed pacer Harshal Patel for the rest of the IPL 2022 season.

Faf du Plessis's 96-run knock and Josh Hazlewood's four-wicket haul helped Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs here at the Dr DY Patil Stadium. Harshal Patel bagged two wickets for the team.

Faf du Plessis, RCB skipper, who was adjudged as 'Player of the Match' in the post-match presentation said: "Due to the nature of this ground, you do run a lot of 2s and towards the end, it can be tiring. I got a few 96, and a 97, so hopefully (a ton) is around the corner."

"We needed someone to stabilise the innings and then get going at the back end. Today, grateful that I could do it. Important that I am able to follow my blueprint of batting. If you bowled slow into the wicket to the big boundary, it never felt like you had enough power to clear that boundary."

It was a chase that never really took off for Lucknow. They lost wickets to the new ball, with Hazlewood breathing fire upfront and once the powerplay wasn't utilised, the pressure started to mount.

"I was tired, but was still hoping that I could hit some at the end. Early in the innings, there was help for the bowlers and they did get us in trouble but we found a way. Our bowlers then stuck to the plans and when you do that on a ground like this, it's tough for the batters," he added.

Talking about the Indian Premier League points table, the South African said: "At the moment, lot of teams at the top, and many in the middle, and when that happens, it's always a scramble (for playoff spots). But that's out of our control. We need to just working on our strengths and we actually can get better in a few things."

"Need one guy to bat through consistently, but we haven't had that frequently. DK has saved us quite a bit, hopefully today is a stepping stone in that direction. Before the last two games, it (death bowling) was a concern as we were getting hit in areas we shouldn't have been. But in the last two games, we've got hit to where we've wanted to. Harshal has been exceptional, watch out for him, he's going to be special for the rest of the season too," the RCB skipper added.

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