Harshal Patel has returned to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 10.75 crore.
IPL 2021's highest wicket-taker, Patel's base price was Rs 2 crore and it was his old team RCB that started the bid. Chennai joined the bidding and it was a constant battle between the two till it reached Rs 4.4 crore, at which point Chennai indicated they were out.
Sunrisers entered at Rs 4.60 crore and RCB continued to raise the bids and it reached Rs 6.50 crore, before a brief stop.
RCB raised it to Rs 7.25 crore and again there were some quick calls from SRH and RCB with the bid reaching 8.75 quite quickly.
At Rs 9 crore, the bid sat with SRH for a bit and RCB raised it to Rs 9.25 crore and SRH immediately made it 9.50. However, in the end, RCB showed that they were going to get Patel back at all costs and SRH pulled out at Rs 10.75 crore.
Harshal played IPL 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore and finished as the season's highest wicket-taker, picking 32 wickets to equal Dwayne Bravo’s record from IPL 2013. The 31-year-old's ability to plug the run flow in the final overs played a big part in RCB’s success last season as the team reached the knockouts.
Patel started his IPL career at RCB in 2012 and was with the franchise till the big auction in 2018 when he released. Delhi bought him for his base price of Rs 20 lakh but traded him three years later to Bangalore and the 31-year-old proved just why Virat wanted him back in the fold as he picked up a five-wicket haul in the 2021 IPL opener against Mumbai Indians, helping RCB win the match by 2 wickets.
Following a dream IPL, Patel earned his maiden India cap in the home T20I series against New Zealand last November, where he picked four wickets in two matches.
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