Rahul Tewatia has become the talk of the town after his impressive blow to the Rajasthan Royals against Kings XI Punjab on Monday. While the off-roader has been playing in the IPL since 2014, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it finally marked its arrival earlier this week.
He scored an impressive fifty when the Royals chased a 224 record against the Kings XI. The left-handed hitter was promoted to number four after the removal of Steve Smith. At the time, the Royals needed 124 of 11 overs. The blow began on a gloomy note to him.
The off-roader was struggling to play the big shots as he managed to score just eight runs in the first 19 balls he faced. With each failure of his to play a big shot, the game drifted away from the Royals. And when a well-placed Samson walked away at 17 after scoring 85, it looked like every Royals.
With 51 needed from 3 overs, he seemed like a lost cause for the Rajasthan-based franchise. But what followed thereafter completely shocked the entire cricket world. In the 18 over bowled by Sheldon Cottrell, the former Kings XI and Delhi Capitals player hit five sixes to turn the game around.
He hit six more in the 19th before going 53-of-31. Royals went on to win the game with three balls remaining.
When Rahul Tewatia asked to be praised:
An old IPL video from last year is going viral in which Rahul Tewatia can be seen asking for praise from Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting after receiving four receptions against the Mumbai Indians. Ponting praised all the good players in the game and the former Delhi Capitals player was surprised that the coach didn’t take his name.
And as soon as Ponting finished his team talk, Rahul Tewatia asked him about the same thing. The Australian legend, however, saw the funny side and told the locker room: ‘Guys, Tewatia took four catches and she wants a pat on the back.’ The whole locker room was divided after that and spinner Axar Patel was even seen asking his former teammate: ‘Who asks for recognition, saying you’ve had four catches?’
Here is the full video:
