XtraTime Web Desk: Not many have heard about Rahul Tewatia’s batting potentiality before Sunday’s IPL game against Kings XI Punjab at Sharjah. The cricketer from Haryana single handedly changed the complexion of the match, once again proving that a game of cricket is not lost or won until the last ball is bowled. The 27 year old faced a barrage of taunts on the social media after he failed to connect the ball with the bat against KXIP’s young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi. At one point of time Tewatia could only manage 8 runs off 19 balls. But what followed was an unbelievable hitting from the Rajasthan Royals cricketer as he took West Indian pacer Sheldon Cottrell to the cleaners, hitting him for five consecutive sixes in the 18th over. Tewatia ended up scoring 53 off 31 balls, with seven hits over the fence as Rajasthan Royals completed the highest run-chase in IPL history.
It was definitely not the case where he came, he saw, he conquered. It would be more apt to say he came, he struggled but still conquered. The left hand batsman just missed the milestone of hitting six sixes in an over which would have been another record in the cash rich league as no one has done it before. Former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes off Stuart Broad’s over in the 2007 T20 World Cup, took to Twitter, congratulating RR on a spectacular win. The left-hander also had a hilarious reaction to Tewatia nearly pulling off what he did to Broad.
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!” tweeted Yuvraj Singh after the RR vs KXIP thriller.
Tewatia has come a long way since making his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2014. In his IPL career so far, Rahul Tewatia has played only 22 matches, scoring 174 runs at an average of 21.75 and also picking 17 wickets at a strike rate of 19.17. From being not picked by any franchise in the 2016 edition Tewatia moved to Kings XI Punjab in 2017 and spent two seasons with Delhi Capitals in 2018 & 2019 before being traded to his former franchise for INR 3 crore. Post Sunday, everyone will start taking notice about Rahul Tewatia.