However, the quality of his deliveries is reflected in his 15 maidens and seven wickets.
"Ticks is always quick to remind me I'm a spinner so I should halve my bowling to what he bowls," he said with a laugh of rookie seamer Blair Tickner.
Jokes and overs aside, though, it requires a certain level of mental fortitude and discipline to be up there with the most frugal of bowlers.
"You get drained a little bit physically but mentally you're quite drained at the end of it because as a spinner you're always trying different things with variations here and there, thinking about how you're going to dismiss a batsman.
"At the end of the day I don't care how tired I am, you know."
The You Travel Taradale premier club cricketer has built immensely on the white-ball format this season where he had to think quickly in high-pressure situations.
"The biggest thing I learned was, no matter what format you're playing, I've got to bowl the way I bowl," he said, becoming adept in attacking, death or holding roles.
He said it was evident that batsmen were now having to work harder against spin and dry wickets earlier in the season so tweakers cherished any strip that offered a modicum of turn.
"I'm not sure if that was because of weather or a change in attitude at various grounds."
Patel said while they fell nine runs shy of the 200 target yesterday, the Stags got themselves in a good position although the Firebirds bowled in the right areas to ensure the batsmen didn't free their arms too much.
"They made it difficult for us but we probably made it a bit difficult on ourselves as well losing three wickets - bang, bang, bang."
No doubt getting the Wellington batsmen out a little earlier would have been nicer as the hosts eyed a target of 150 to chase down but found some defiance from allrounder Iain McPeake at No 9 for 48 runs in tandem with No 7 Peter Younghusband who was unbeaten on 49.
"It would have given us more time to chase down whatever total they had but they weren't scoring too many off our seamers ... we tried our hardest so it's unfortunate," he said, not fussed about bowling with a worn-out or new ball although with a fresh cherry the fingers take a bit more hammering from the seams.
"I'm comfortable bowling with both and the nature of cricket these days with one-dayers and Twenty20s means you're asked to bowl with a new ball," he said, revealing the old ball was still swinging a little in the morning so they persevered with it for a few more overs.
He lauded all the bowlers, especially Tickner for running in all day for his 2-73 from 30 overs, including seven maidens in the second dig.
"I think George played brilliantly with the bat and Youngy in the first innings for his great hundred so, overall, we gave it our all but, at the end of the day, it's just a draw," he said after Black Caps prospect George Worker scored 85 runs at No 3.
