During the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, the broadcasters ran a fan poll ...
During the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, the broadcasters ran a fan poll asking whether Shikhar Dhawan, the highest run-scorer in the tournament, is more likely to finish the season with the Orange Cap or does Harshal Patel, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, have a better chance of holding on to his Purple Cap till the end.
In what was a surprise even to the commentators, it was Harshal who claimed the bigger percentage of votes. Considering Dhawan’s pedigree as a cricketer and the kind of form he has shown so far in IPL 2021, one would’ve expected him to emerge as the winner of that poll.
However, you take a closer look at Harshal’s performances over the past three weeks and the result starts to make sense. The right-arm medium pacer is five ahead of the second-highest wicket-taker, has been Virat Kohli’s go-to bowler for breakthroughs in every game, and has dismissed the likes of Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Chris Morris, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Prithvi Shaw and Marcus Stoinis.
Bangalore are at the top of the points table having completed almost half of their league games and Harshal has played a key...
