"The impact rule allows us to take care of our primary skill" - Harshal Patel after RCB's seven-run victory over RR

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) seamer Harshal Patel has explained how well they have made use of the impact player rule in IPL 2023. With him and Faf du Plessis carrying injuries, the right-arm seamer reckons it has allowed them to take care of what they can do best.

With du Plessis carrying a rib injury, RCB has used him as an impact player and chosen Virat Kohli to lead the side. As a result, the veteran comes on as an impact player when the team bats and is substituted when they field.

R̶e̶d̶ Green Hot Form 😉

Another half-century in #TATAIPL 2023 for @faf1307 👏🏻👏🏻

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Speaking at a press conference after the Royal Challengers' seven-run win over the Rajasthan Royals, the 32-year-old said:

"The way we have used Faf as a batter and myself as a bowler has been very good for the team. Both of us have been carrying injuries that do not allow us to execute one of our skills. The impact rule allows us to take care of our primary skill."

Du Plessis has been in fiery form in IPL 2023 and is leading the run-scoring charts with 405 runs in seven innings. The former South African captain's last five scores are 79*, 22, 62, 84, and 62.

"When the ball loses shine and hardness, it gets difficult to hit shots" - Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel celebrates a wicket. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Harshal, who finished with figures of 4-0-32-3 and was substituted for du Plessis, revealed that the team told themselves to keep faith even if the Royals develop a good partnership, knowing they will have a chance later in the game. He added:

"The trend we have seen here is that when the ball is hard and new, it is easier to score runs. When the ball loses shine and hardness, it gets difficult to hit shots. So before we took the field, the conversation was that even if they have a good partnership up front, we will try to bowl back-to-back dot balls and try to be as aggressive as we can. We know how difficult it becomes in the later half of the innings."

A timely wicket that!

Shahbaz Ahmed takes a sharp catch to dismiss the #RR skipper 👏🏻👏🏻

Equation 45 off 18 now.

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Despite Virat Kohli's golden duck, RCB posted an imposing 189 after a 127-run stand between Glenn Maxwell and du Plessis.