Harshal Patel was on Wednesday slammed for his ‘lack of sportsman spirit’ after he refused to shake hands with Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag post-match. The two were involved in an on-field argument earlier in the game, which Royal Challengers Bangalore ultimately lost by 29 runs. 

The Rajasthan Royals managed to defend an under-par 144 at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Wednesday. Sanju Samson’s men dismissed RCB for 115 runs to go on top of the IPL 2022 points table.

Also read: RCB skipper Faf du Plessis backs Virat Kohli, says ‘great players go through phases like this’

Parag scored an unbeaten 56 off 31 balls to single-handedly take his side to 144 for 8. He struck three boundaries and four sixes during his knock. In the 20th over, the Guwahati-based player smashed Harshal Patel for 18 runs. He finished the innings with a maximum over deep mid-wicket only to see the angry RCB pacer lose his calm. 

The two exchanged some heated words as their other teammates tried to extinguish the situation. 

However, the dispute did not end there. After the match, when Riyan Parag tried to shake hands with Harshal Patel, the RCB player walked through.

Also read: IPL 2022: ‘Move to RCB is the watershed moment of my life,’ says Harshal Patel

Watch:

Parag, who was named the player of the match, took a catch at long-on to dismiss Harshal Patel, the last RCB wicket, off Kuldeep Sen. 

Also read: IPL 2022: Harshal Patel explains how Kohli, ABD, Maxwell failed to play his slower balls

“A bit of satisfaction. The Royals have shown faith in me for the last three years, and I am paying them back bit by bit. I love the pressure and I am just showcasing my abilities. During the time-out, Sanga came out and we agreed that 140 was a good total on this wicket. We decided to go big in the last two overs. I wanted to target Hasaranga in his second over, but we lost wickets, and so I had to strategize and go after Hazlewood and Harshal,” the 20-year-old said after the match. 

Defending 144 runs, RR bowlers put up quite a show. A young Kuldeep Sen led with 4/20 as Ravichandran Ashwin (3/17) and Prasidh Krishna (2/23) followed.

For RCB, skipper Faf du Plessis top-scored with 23 runs off 21 balls. Indian domestic players — Rajat Patidar (16) and Suyash Prabhudessai — failed miserably, leaving the difficult task of finishing the innings once again on the shoulders of Dinesh Karthik (6).