Harshal Patel returns to Gujarat after 14 years with Haryana

Hot on the heels of Jayant Yadav's departure comes another high-profile move away from Haryana, with India seamer Harshal Patel signing with Gujarat for the 2025-26 domestic season.

Having completed all formalities, Harshal will be available for Gujarat's pre-season preparations, which kick off with a tri-series later this month that also features the other two teams from the state, Baroda and Saurashtra.

Harshal's return to Gujarat completes a circle. He was born there, and made his List A debut for the side in 2008-09 following an impressive Under-19 season. However, he made the switch to Haryana soon after returning from the Under-19 World Cup in 2010, when he was unable to make further inroads in Gujarat.

He eventually made his first-class debut, for Haryana, in 2011-12 and had been a key member of their squads across formats since. In all, Harshal has picked up 246 first-class wickets in 74 matches at an average of 24.02, with 12 five-wicket hauls.

He was instrumental in Haryana becoming a force across the white-ball formats over the years, and was part of the side that went on to clinch their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2023-24.

"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 told 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 divides his time between the USA - where he has extended family - and Ahmedabad, where he lives. Harshal's decision to switch teams comes at a time when he felt he needed to prioritise spending time with his young family between cricket commitments.

"It was getting difficult for me to be away from the family for long periods of time," Harshal said. "So I wanted to come back and see if I could finish my career here. Glad I got an opportunity to do that."

Harshal had been approached by another team, but he wanted to first see if Gujarat would be keen. As it turned out, they were "more than happy" to have him back.

"I first asked Anil Patel [secretary, Gujarat Cricket Association] and he was gracious enough to say, 'this is your home, welcome back.' Having come back, I'm open to play everything and anything that the team wants me to play.

"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."

Harshal hasn't been a first-class regular for the past two seasons, only playing seven red-ball games over that period. But looking ahead, he's happy with where his body is at and is keen to get back to the grind if picked.

"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 said. "I love the grind. The goal has always been to play the best cricket that I can play for as long as I can irrespective of the format."

At 34, Harshal remains an IPL regular and is coming off an excellent season with Sunrisers Hyderabad - 16 wickets in 13 games at an economy rate of 9.80. He played the most recent of his 25 T20Is in January 2023, and isn't in the mix currently. The prospects of an India comeback, though, aren't on his mind.

"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 said. "My motivation has nothing to do with whether I'll play for India or not or whether I'll play IPL or not.

"My motivation has everything to do with whether I still have the hunger to go to the ground and bowl 10-15 overs in a day, and if I can do it over a period of two-three months. And the answer is yes."

At Gujarat, Harshal hopes to lend his experience to a set-up that is largely in a transition phase under head coach Ramesh Powar.

"I'm pretty excited to see what I can add here to the team's betterment," he said. "That's what I spoke about with Ramesh bhai and Axar [Patel] recently. If I can contribute in some way to the development of players, mentor them and help them in their journey, there'll be no bigger satisfaction.

"As far as my own journey is concerned, I've always asked myself how can I be the best player I can be. That has kept me going for all these years, and it still keeps me going. My training consistency is probably better than it has ever been.

"I've been really lucky and I've been really fortunate that I don't have that financial anxiety anymore [thanks to the IPL]. So now that factor is taken away, the only thing that still pushes me is I want to play this game because I love playing this game."