Rahul Tewatia – The Six-Hitting Journeyman

In the future, whenever debates take place about what the Indian T20 League has done for the status of domestic cricket, the name of Rahul Tewatia and his magic moments will surely merit a mention. Through his initial 2 seasons with the Rajasthan team, a year with Punjab and 2 more seasons with the Delhi team, there had been few signs that Tewatia’s batting or his leg-spin had game-changing qualities. If anything, it was certainly his bowling that stood out.

Then with the league relocating to the UAE for the 2020 season and Tewatia back in Rajasthan’s colors, he had the sort of match that kids and scriptwriters dream about. His only over had gone for 19, and Rajasthan were set 224 to win by Punjab. Despite superb innings from Steve Smith and Sanju Samson, they were up against it.

Tewatia’s struggles soon attracted the attention of the trigger fingers on social media. At one stage, with the asking rate over 16, he was on 8 off 19 balls. He could barely hit the ball off the square, and the keyboard warriors were asking for him to be retired on compassionate grounds.

A six off Ravi Bishnoi gave him a boost, and then in one remarkable over, redemption arrived. Sheldon Cottrell isn’t as quick as he once was, but he’s still big enough and lively enough to hurry most batters. Tewatia carved him for 5 sixes in the 18th over of the chase. By the time he was out, after having smashed another 6 off Mohammed Shami, he had made 53 from 31 balls. Comebacks from the edge don’t come much sweeter.

That match proved the springboard for Tewatia’s best season in the competition, with his all-round displays prompting a call-up to the India squad for a T20 series against England. A failed fitness test cost him the chance to debut, but he remains a key part of Rajasthan’s plans as they chase a play-off spot in the 2021 season. And even if he never scales such heights again, he’ll always have that night in Sharjah, when a relatively unknown player from Haryana made the cricketing world’s jaw drop. Though he couldn’t make it to India’s squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup, hopefully he will get enough chances to showcase his skills at big events in the future.

Teams in the Indian T20 League hardly miss the chance to identify the inherent talent of a player. The newly introduced Gujarat team showed the way when they beat a host of other sides to buy Tewatia for an impressive ₹9 crores in the mega auction held in February 2022.

The following information about Tewatia, together with your knowledge of cricket, gives you an opportunity to win cash prizes in fantasy cricket matches. Download the Howzat app and get a chance to win exciting prizes daily.