"You need more runs on the board" - Tom Moody points out Rahul Tewatia's lack of batting time

Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody recently pointed out how Gujarat Titans' (GT) batter Rahul Tewatia hasn't had enough opportunities for a long time in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).

Tewatia was dismissed for just 3 off 5 in Qualifier 1 between Titans and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday, May 23. Moody suggested that one cannot expect the player to fire with the bat when he hasn't had enough time in the middle lately.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after GT's 15-run loss to CSK, he explained:

"When Rahul Tewatia came out to bat, the graphic came up 10 games and 83 runs I think it was. I thought he hasn't batted that much. This deep end of the season, he hasn't batted at all. That's a real concern because, as much as we have admired his heroics over the past couple of years, you need more runs on the board, as in time in the middle and experiences.

"To suddenly come out having hardly had any impact on the field in any matches with batting over six or seven weeks, (is tough)."

Rahul Tewatia has mustered 87 runs from six innings this season. While he has an impressive strike rate of 152.63, it is worth noting that he has faced just 57 balls so far in the edition.

The defending champions GT failed to chase down CSK's 173-run total, getting bundled out for 157 in the crucial encounter.

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"The pitch wasn't to Tewatia's liking" - Sanjay Manjrekar on the batter's failure

During the discussion, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar suggested that the lack of batting time didn't have anything to do with Rahul Tewatia's failed outing against Chennai.

He mentioned that the southpaw struggled because of the nature of the pitch. The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Tewatia would have been able to accumulate some quick runs on a good batting track.

"That happens to a lot of finishers, look at MS Dhoni's impact with the bat this season, he has hardly batted," said Manjrekar. "Wriddhiman Saha as well I think is averaging 13 or 14 balls per innings, by planning. The pitch was the real issue for these guys. On a pitch like this where you can say that it was a turner, and then the finger spinners were accurate, becomes very dangerous."

Manjrekar added:

"The pitch wasn't to Tewatia's liking. Despite the lack of facing many balls or match practice, you expected Tewatia at Chinnaswamy Stadium, for example, get you 10-11 runs per over in the last three or four. He came in a bit too early."

Rahul Tewatia will next be seen in action in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023 where Gujarat will square off against the winner of Eliminator between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.