Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, and Rahul Tewatia.
You probably never expected to see the third name in the company of the first two, but if you remember some of the more shocking but unpredictable IPL entries, based on how they started, Tewatia deserves its place.
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McCullum’s 158 to 73 balls, in the IPL debut in 2008, was unexpected in part because no one knew what to expect and in part because he was at zero after his first six balls. Watson’s start to the 2018 final was so slow that he needed 10 balls just to get off the mark. He finished 117 * out of 57 balls and an eventual strike rate of 205.
Read also | ‘Those were the worst first 20 balls I’ve ever played’ – Rahul Tewatia, hero of the Rajasthan Royals, off to a slow start
But Watson and McCullum were legends before Tewatia scored her first run in T20 cricket. Tewatia is a day laborer: he had been diverted between franchises for six years; good enough to be in the mix, but never good enough to make the news. Suddenly, it’s the good story of 2020.
Read also | Rahul Tewatia, star of Sanju Samson as Rajasthan Royals record most successful persecution in history
Others have written beautiful pieces about their journey and the entries that unfolded that night. I’m interested in the reactions of those around him and what that says about a team.
He was sent in at No. 4, with the Royals needing more than 11 an over, to target the leg spinner, as the only southpaw on the Royals team. He tried percentage shots: reverse sweeps against off-turn, hits from the opposite side against googlies, but he landed very few. From our limited view on television, the dugout looked worried, anxious, even dejected, but not angry. They had seen the talent in the networks. They wanted him to do well and they knew he was trying. At the other extreme, Sanju Samson nearly lost his window out of frustration, but not out of calm. Samson denied him a strike, even asked Tewatia to run across the field and swing, but those were cricket calculations. There was no obvious mockery towards a teammate with lesser gifts.
Perhaps Tewatia’s incredible change came about because by then, she had nothing to lose. His shot at being a hero had seen him hit bottom, hitting 17 of 23 with the required run rate at 17 and a well-established Samson.
Perhaps this is where athletes do their best, when they no longer care about winning and losing. Another thing that brings out the best in athletes is the confidence that their team will treat them fairly and humanely.
The Rajasthan Royals have built a reputation for being a team that selects, encourages and nurtures talent. Think of Shreyas Gopal. Think Riyan Parag. They are the youngest average age in the IPL. So maybe Tewatia prospered because this is what the Rajasthan Royal do.
Or maybe this is conjecture, and is simply a case of meeting opportunity out of necessity: in the Royals documentary released ahead of the season, team principal Zubin Barucha said: “We need a quality spinner, possibly we will look at a choice of the left”. They don’t have lefties in their higher order. Last year his second spinner was Riyan Parag. Tewatia was a bet they had to make.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I heard good things about the Royals team environment from talking to the wives of some of the players and staff. They talk a lot about ‘family’. But words are worth only up to a point, rumors even less. I think if you want to judge a family, look at how they treat their women. The Royals are one of the few IPL teams to invest in women’s cricket. Their documentary also describes how they established talent development pathways for both boys and girls. Realizing that girls cannot play so many games, they invested in organizing an inter-school competition in Jaipur. Hall of Famer Lisa Sthalekar was hired to help guide their programs. Among its staff is Anuja Dalvi, the first female physiotherapist at IPL, who also leads its COVID-19 task force. And they are the first IPL franchise to sport a sanitary napkin brand logo on their shirt.
Imagine the tortuous first half of Tewatia innings played on every other cricket ground in the country. From gully cricket, state cricket to interstate T20 cricket. Even in the confines of your mind, you can hear the abuse and boos that the hitter in question would be subjected to, from his own teammates. The pyramid of professionalism cuts out idiocy, but does not eliminate it completely. It was heartening to see nothing of the sort from Tewatia’s own team as the frustrating half of their innings unfolded.
Tewatia’s success is good for the Royals and shows that it could answer some of the questions about team combinations. But the Royals’ success with Tewatia might be the most valuable result.
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