Highlights:
- Rahul Tewatia shined for Rajasthan Royal in IPL 2020 Match 9
- Rahul Tewatia called “the worst first 20 balls I have ever faced,”
- The commentator goes from asking Tewatia being “retired out” to praising him after he started hitting sixes
In the 9th match of the Indian Premier League 2020, one player went on from being the villain to being the hero for Rajasthan Royals. The phrase “two sides of the same coin” could not be better exemplified by anyone other than Rahul Tewatia’s inning.
On Sunday, chasing a record total, the Rajasthan Royals batsman walked out at No. 4 after the dismissal of captain Steve Smith with the team still requiring a mountain of a score to climb.
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With just 8 runs from the initial 19 balls and hitting the first boundary of his inning on the 20th ball, he did not look adequate to help Rajasthan chase 224. At a point Rajasthan Royals needed 51 off the final 3 overs, Tewatia suddenly switched gears, carting left-arm quick Sheldon Cottrell for 30 runs in an over – five sixes – to turn the table.
A sight to which Yuvraj Singh tweeted, “Mr @rahultewatia02 na bhai na Smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat thanks for missing one ball ! What a game congratulations to rr for a spectacular win !!! #RRvKXIP,”.
Mr @rahultewatia02 na bhai na ? thanks for missing one ball ! What a game congratulations to rr for a spectacular win !!! #RRvKXIP @mayankcricket great knock @IamSanjuSamson brilliant !
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) September 27, 2020
He was eventually sent back to the dressing room by Mohammed Shami in the 19th over but he had done the damage already. RR achieved a four-wicket win over such a huge score with three balls still remaining.
After the match, as words fell short to describe the kind of inning Tewatia had played for his side, the left-handed batsman termed the initial half of his inning as the worst of his T20 career.
The 27 year old batsman said, “Now, I’m better. That was the worst first 20 balls that I have ever played. I was hitting the ball very good in the nets, so I had belief in myself and kept going. I was not hitting the ball well initially, I saw in the dug-out, everybody was curious because they know that I can hit the ball long,”.
However, one can’t argue with Tewatia as the first 19 balls of his inning, Tewatia had scored just 8 runs, with no boundaries, while the next 12 balls produced 45 runs, 42 of which came by hitting in sixes (seven sixes).
Unfortunately for KXIP, Cottrell who had bowled so well for them in the previous two games had a night he might never be able to forget.
From commentator asking Rajasthan to retired out Tewatia for wasting so many balls to him smashing sixes left and right and the same commentator not able to stop himself from complementing the 27 year old. Tewatia said, “I thought I had to believe in myself. It was a matter of one six, after that, I got going. Five in an over went amazing. Coach sent me to hit sixes off the leg-spinner, but unfortunately, I didn’t hit him. Ultimately, I hit off the other bowlers,”.
