He is tall and has a decent pace.
The current U19 batch has some of the finest talents in India, with most players impressing in their respective departments. While the likes of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre have hogged the limelight, another pacer who has silently been doing his job is Henil Patel. Born in Valsad, Gujarat, Henil is a lanky pacer who has a knack for picking wickets.
In his short career, he has shown the ability to bowl in accurate areas and move the ball upfront. Then, he is tall and has a decent pace, which allows him to hit the deck and bowl shorter lengths. Henil has a sharp bouncer that climbs on the batters from the length, which he uses as a surprise weapon, and his high release points allow him to extract more bounce from fuller lengths and hit high on the bat.
There’s also decent batting value in the lower order. While Henil hasn’t had enough chances to showcase his batting abilities, he can hit the ball long and provides a handy option. Obviously, his batting will improve as he gains more exposure.
Henil Patel has been impressive in patches in recent months on the England and Australia tour. During the England Youth ODIs, he snared four wickets at an average of 28.75 in three outings, with a best of 2/28. He was economical for most of the series, conceding only 4.72 runs per over, the second-best among all India U19 bowlers.
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On the same tour, the pacer grabbed four wickets at 54.50 runs apiece across four innings, comprising a best of 3/81. He continued his decent run in Australia, dismissing three batters at an average of 23.33 and an economy rate of 4.11 in two outings. Henil didn’t get to play the first Youth Test, but showed his class again in the second game.
In the first innings, the 18-year-old snared three wickets while conceding only 21 runs in his nine-over spell. His bowling display helped India U19 bundle the opponent on a mere 135 on Day 1. He has showcased exceptional ability to adapt to different formats, and this exposure will help him in the long run.
Henil has already featured for Gujarat U19 and might be in contention for a senior team debut in the upcoming domestic season. He has just started, but initial impressions are noteworthy. His next target will be to perform domestically, which will help him come on the IPL franchises’ radar, but he must keep improving for that to happen.
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