Rahul Tewatia who is a leg-spin bowling all-rounder was traded to Rajasthan Royals from Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2020. Incidentally, he had made his IPL debut with RR in 2014. Rahul Tewatia made headlines for his valiant knock of 31 balls 53 for which Rajasthan Royals chased down KXIP’s target of 224 which is the highest successful run chase ever in IPL.
IPL throws up unlikely heroes and Sunday was no exception and a “Day of Rahuls” when the lesser-known Rahul Tewatia from Haryana’s Sihi village in Faridabad district stole the limelight from India star KL Rahul, striking five sixes in an over from Sheldon Cottrell that changed the course of RR’s match against Kings XI Punjab.
Rahul Tewatia Was Expected To Have His Day In IPL With The Bat: Vijay Yadav
Vijay Yadav who is a wicketkeeper and an aggressive lower-order batsman having played 19 One Day Internationals from 1992 to 1994 and appeared once for India in Test cricket was ecstatic after Rahul Tewatia’s performance.
“I always told Rahul Tewatia that he will have his day in the IPL and it would be because of his batting,” the excitement and satisfaction was palpable in childhood coach Vijay Yadav’s voice while talking about his ward’s match-defining 31-ball 53 for Rajasthan Royals in an IPL encounter.
Rajasthan Royals Brand Ambassador Shane Warne also was full of praise for the 27-year-old all-rounder. Rahul Tewatia started slowly by scoring only eight runs from first 19 balls but then exploded scoring 30 runs in one over from Sheldon Cottrell.
“Firstly what courage and heart shown by Tewatia, especially after his poor start with bat, well done young man awesome,” Warne summed it up in a tweet that Tewatia would remember for a long time.
Haryana have a tradition of producing leg-spinners and Rahul Tewatia followed in the footsteps of his much illustrious colleagues DC’s Amit Mishra and RCB’s Yuzvendra Chahal despite being in their shadows for the better part of the last seven years in senior cricket.
Vijay Yadav Remembers Family Of Rahul Tewatia’s Enthusiasm For Cricket
But Vijay Yadav, a former hard-hitting Indian wicketkeeper-batsman who is best known for advising legendary Sachin Tendulkar to bowl the last over in the Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa, remembers a shy kid who came at his “Cricket Gurukul” in 1998-99 as an eight-year-old.
“His father is a lawyer in a Faridabad court and they are a middle-class family. But what struck me was his family’s enthusiasm even though he was a shy kid,” Yadav fondly remembers.
“Not just his father but his uncles would also come to drop him and they were like any aspiring parent if their kid didn’t get a chance to bat or bowl,” Yadav remembers.
“It was like the whole family wanted to make him a cricketer.”
In fact, Rahul Tewatia’s career ran parallel with Yuzvendra Chahal as they played U-15s and U-19s together.
“A player must be aware about his strengths and when Rahul was in his teens, he was always competing with Chahal, I made him aware about a few things,” Yadav said.
“I told him he will be a useful leg-spinner but Amit and Chahal are more skillful bowlers. His advantage was his batting which was in a different league. I told him that you can win an IPL game with this batting,” said Yadav, who has been an India A fielding coach.
“He is an asset as a batting all-rounder,” Yadav said.
Even during the lockdown, Rahul Tewatia, along with Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata Knight Riders player Rinku Singh, would come for nets at his academy.
“I am not surprised he hit five sixes in an over,” explained Yadav.
Sachin Tendulkar termed Rahul Tewatia’s knock as a terrific one while expressing his surprise as KXIP bowlers didn’t often bowl yorkers at the death overs.
Vijay Yadav, who once played a cameo against South Africa to win an ODI during the Proteas first tour to the country in 1992-93, is realistic about chances that Rahul Tewatia can achieve.
“All Haryana players in recent years have got India opportunities when they deserved whether it’s Jogi (Joginder Sharma), Mohit Sharma, Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) or Jayant (Yadav).
“Rahul should back his strength which is white-ball cricket.”
Rahul Tewatia has scored 174 runs and taken 17 wickets from 22 IPL matches so far. His highest score is 53 which he achieved against KXIP while his best bowling figure is 3/18.