'I used to work at this Pakistani guy's perfume store'- Harshal Patel opens up about his struggle when he lived in the USA

Harshal Patel has emerged as one of the most promising newcomers in the Indian T20 League in recent years. The 2021 edition was the pacer's breakout season. He picked 32 wickets last year and with that, also bagged the purple cap.  The next season, the Bangalore team acquired him at the Mega Auction for a whopping 10.75 crores.

However, his journey hasn't been an easy one. During a conversation, he revealed that he worked in a Pakistani man's perfume shop in the USA and merely made 35 dollars a day. He struggled to speak English because he did his schooling in Gujarati medium.

Speaking to Gaurav Kapoor's show 'Breakfast with Champions' he said, "I used to work at this Pakistani guy's perfume store in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I couldn't speak a word of English because I had studied in Gujarati medium throughout. That was my first encounter with the language and also with the language with so much slang because that entire area was predominantly Latino and African American. Then I picked up their kind of English. Gangster English."

Patel said that his aunt and uncle used to drop him at the shop while going to their work. He also revealed that he would only be paid $35 after working for 12-13 hours in a day. "My aunt and uncle used to go to their offices, and they would drop me on the way. So at 7 am I would be dropped and the store would open at 9 am. Two hours I used to sit at the Elizabeth railway station. Do my work till 7.30, 8. So 12-13 hours a day and I used to get paid $35 a day," he said.

Harshal stated that he played junior cricket in Gujarat and thought he could do well in the sport. He persuaded his parents to leave him behind and move to the United States so that he could pursue his ambition of being a cricketer. He also revealed that he would save money by eating a non-toasted sandwich during this time.

"I used to play junior cricket. I was a little too quick for my age. Unfortunately, that pace stopped at that level. And they (parents) put all that faith in me. And when my parents left they told me one thing ‘don't do something which puts us in a bad situation'. I took it to heart. I used to go to Motera to practice from 7 am till about 10 am. There was a sandwich shop, I would eat sandwiches and return. Aloo-mutter (potato and peas) sandwich, vegetable sandwich. Not toasted. Because toasted (bread) was expensive. Aloo-mutter and vegetables used to be Rs 7, toasted was Rs 15," he said.