Harshal Patel has established himself as one of the most consistent fast bowlers in the IPL, regularly scalping wickets. Patel made headlines recently after an altercation with Riyan Parag.
When Patel was traded from the Delhi Capitals to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2020, his cricket graph took a sharp upward turn. The 31-year-old bowler emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the last edition of the Indian Premier League shortly after the transfer.
Harshal Patel on learning different languages
On a recent episode of Breakfast with Champions, Harshal Patel said that he wants to be eloquent and also wants to learn to speak different languages. He also said that he looks up to some famous people for their eloquence.
Patel said that he is very interested in poetry and philosophy and that he listens to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.
Patel also admitted that his path has not been easy, and he spoke candidly about his early years in the United States when he worked in a blue-collar job.
Patel and his parents returned to India when he was 17 years old.
“I used to work at this Pakistani guy’s perfume store in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I couldn’t speak a word of English because I had studied in a Gujarati medium throughout. That was my first encounter with the language and also with the language with so much slang because that entire area was predominantly Latino and African American. Then I picked up their kind of English. Gangster English,” Patel said.
“They used to come and buy $100 perfume bottles on Fridays. On Monday they used to come back and used to say, ‘Hey man I just sprayed it a couple of times. I want to return it, man. I have no food on the table’. That was a regular occurrence. It was a great experience for me because I learned what those blue-collar jobs really are. My aunt and uncle used to go to their offices, and they would drop me on the way. So at 7 am I would be dropped off and the store would open at 9 am. For two hours I used to sit at the Elizabeth railway station. Do my work till 7.30, 8. So 12-13 hours a day and I used to get paid $35 a day,” Patel added.
