Harshal Patel rejoins Gujarat after 14 years with Haryana

Following Jayant Yadav’s departure, India seamer Harshal Patel has made another high-profile transfer away from Haryana, joining Gujarat for the 2025–2026 domestic season.

Harshal Patel will be ready for Gujarat’s preseason practices after completing all the necessary legalities. The preseason begins later this month with a tri-series that also includes the state’s other two teams, Baroda and Saurashtra.

A circle is completed with Harshal Patel return to Gujarat. He was born there, and after an outstanding Under-19 season, he made his List A debut for the team in 2008–09. However, he was unable to gain much traction in Gujarat and quickly moved to Haryana after returning from the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.

After making his first-class debut for Haryana in 2011–12, he has been an important part of their teams in all formats ever since. Harshal Patel has taken 12 five-wicket hauls and 246 first-class wickets at an average of 24.02 in 74 games overall.

He played a key role in Haryana’s rise to prominence in white-ball cricket over the years and was a member of the team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time in 2023–2024.

“Right from 2010-11 since my Under-19 days, almost the entirety of my professional career has been with Haryana, I owe a lot to them,” Harshal Patel stated to ESPNcricinfo. “If that move to Haryana as an 18-year-old hadn’t worked out for me I would have probably moved to the USA and not played cricket in India.”

Harshal Patel splits his time between Ahmedabad, where he resides, and the USA, where he has extended family. In between cricket responsibilities, Harshal Patel felt he wanted to prioritize spending time with his young family, which is why he decided to switch teams.

“It was getting difficult for me to be away from the family for long periods of time,” Harshal Patel stated.

In order to see if I could complete my career here, I wanted to return. I’m glad I had the chance to accomplish that.

Another team had contacted Harshal Patel, but he wanted to check if Gujarat would be interested first. They were “more than happy” to welcome him return, as it happened.

“When I initially asked Anil Patel, the secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association, he was kind enough to respond, ‘This is your home, welcome back.'” Now that I’m back, I’m willing to play anything and anything the team requests.

“While my specialisation will remain white-ball, I’m only more than happy to take any opportunities that come my way with red-ball cricket.”

For the past two seasons, Harshal Patel has only participated in seven red-ball matches and has not been a first-class regular. However, he is content with his current physical state and eager to return to the grind if selected.

“My body allows me to bowl 20 overs in a day over two months or however long the Ranji Trophy season is; it doesn’t bother me,” he stated. “I adore the grind. Regardless of the format, the objective has always been to play the best cricket I can for as long as I can.”

Harshal Patel, 34, is still a regular in the IPL and is coming off a stellar season with Sunrisers Hyderabad, taking 16 wickets at an economy rate of 9.80 in 13 games. He is not in the mix at the moment and played his most recent of his 25 T20Is in January 2023. But he’s not thinking about the chances of an India comeback.

“My India selections and IPL and all of these things have come as a byproduct of that mindset of giving it my best wherever I play,” he stated. “Whether I play for India or not, or whether I play in the IPL, has no bearing on my motivation.

“Whether or not I still have the appetite to go to the ground and bowl ten to fifteen overs in a day, as well as whether or not I can do it over the course of two to three months, is what drives me. And “yes” is the response.

Harshal Patel wants to contribute his knowledge to Gujarat, as head coach Ramesh Powar’s team is mostly going through a transitional period.

“I’m pretty excited to see what I can add here to the team’s betterment,” he stated. That’s what I recently discussed with Axar [Patel] and Ramesh bhai. There won’t be greater gratification if I can mentor players, assist them on their trip, and help them grow in some way.

Regarding my personal path, I’ve always questioned how I may improve as a player. That has sustained me over the years and continues to do so. I think I’ve never been more consistent in my training.

“Thanks to the Indian Premier League, I’ve been really fortunate to no longer experience financial worries. After removing that element, the only thing that motivates me is my desire to play the game because I enjoy it.