IPL 2020: 'Rahul Tewatia made the journey from a zero to a hero in 7-8 deliveries' - Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has stated that Rahul Tewatia had transformed himself from almost being labelled as the cause of Rajasthan Royals' (RR) defeat to being their match-winner in a matter of a few deliveries.

He made this observation while talking about Rahul Tewatia's miraculous knock that helped the Rajasthan-based franchise register an unlikely victory over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in a video shared on his YouTube page.

Aakash Chopra lauded the great determination Rahul Tewatia had shown by taking the attack to the opposition after being down in the dumps in the initial half of his innings. He said:

"The day belonged to Rahul only but is was not KL Rahul but Rahul Tewatia, who made the journey from a zero to a hero in 7-8 deliveries. Rahul Tewatia has shown that we need to believe in fairy tales, if you accept the situation it is your loss but if you have the resolve you will win."

The reputed commentator highlighted that at one stage, he even thought that the Rajasthan Royals would be doing Rahul Tewatia a favour by retiring him out, considering the latter's struggles in the middle.

"He has been absolutely sensational because I was in commentatory and I was saying and thinking that if a player is getting anxious, then he should be relieved of his struggles, they would be helping him by doing that."

Aakash Chopra added that Rahul Tewatia had shown everyone that miracles can happen on the cricketing field by turning around the match on its head.

"But can the situation change like that, we were shown today that miracles are possible. Well done Rahul Tewatia, take a bow."

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Aakash Chopra on how the day unfolded for Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia did not hit a boundary of the first 19 deliveries he faced [PC: iplt20.com]

While talking about how the day unfolded for Rahul Tewatia, Aakash Chopra pointed out that it was not the most auspicious start for the Rajasthan Royals star, with him being taken out of the attack after the solitary expensive over he had bowled.

"Firstly he was not given much bowling, he bowled just one over in which he got hit a little. And then he was stopped. These things give a hint that probably your day is bad."

The former KKR player observed that Rahul Tewatia had been promoted in the batting order, being set in ahead of Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag and Tom Curran.

"After that RR batting was doing good, Sanju Samson and Steve Smith were playing well when the latter was dismissed. And they promote Rahul Tewatia with Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag and Tom Curran waiting behind."

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rahul Tewatia's initial struggles with the bat had almost made him the cause of Rajasthan Royals' impending defeat.

"And Rahul Tewatia goes and tries a lot and in the end I had started to feel why they were irritating the kid as he was neither getting out nor able to score. You want to contribute to your team's victory but even if that doesn't happen, you don't want to be the reason for the defeat."

He added that the all-rounder might have also felt the same, especially after Sanju Samson was dismissed because of the mounting pressure.

"At one point it did feel and even he might have felt that he was making his team lose because he was not making runs and poor Sanju Samson got out going after the bowling."

The 43-year-old then highlighted that Rahul Tewatia had altered the course of the game by smashing Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over.

Who scored the most runs in IPL,click here to find out.

"And then comes Sheldon Cottrell and he hits 5 sixes in an over, 30 runs in an over by an uncapped Indian player against an international calibre fast bowler."

5 sixes, 1 over - A Tewatia special.Rahul Tewatia blasted 5 sixes in one Cottrell over to change the game in a flash. Relive this game-changing moment over and over again.https://t.co/p5SKMwALlz #Dream11IPL #RRvKXIP

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 27, 2020

Aakash Chopra signed off by lauding Rahul Tewatia for keeping his composure under immense pressure and Rajasthan Royals for believing in him.

"Unbelievable batting and what we all were talking about retiring him out or they were doing wrong, Rajasthan Royals proved us wrong. Rahul Tewatia, very very well done."

Rajasthan Royals might have felt that they had made a mistake by promoting Rahul Tewatia up the order, with the all-rounder having scored just 8 runs off the first 19 deliveries he had faced. But the gritty left-hander turned it all around by scoring 45 runs off the next 11 deliveries he faced to help his team register an improbable victory.

"Keep the faith" - Rahul Tewatia, 2017#RRvKXIP | #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/AGAMa07AZe

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 27, 2020