Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia is the perfect street-smart cricketer that a captain would want in his limited-overs side. He can roll his arms when asked and outfox the talented of the batsmen with his willy leg-spinners and can also use the long-lever to good effect when sent in to slog in the middle. His breakthrough performance against Kings XI Punjab in the 2020 IPL catapulted him to the history books of the IPL.

Table of Contents

1. Career
2. Background

Career

Domestic Career

The all-rounder cricketer from Haryana made his debut for his home state side during the 2013–14 Ranji Trophy on 6 December 2013 against Karnataka at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium. He had a sedate start to his First Class career as he managed to muster 17 runs total in his two appearances with the bat. He later made his List A debut for Haryana in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 25 February 2017. In 7 FC matches, he has taken 17 wickets and scored 190 runs whereas in 21 List-A matches, he has scored 484 runs with 91* being his highest score.

IPL Career

Rahul Tewatia earned ₹10 lakhs while representing Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014. The Jaipur-based franchise retained him for the same amount in 2015. Two years later, Kings XI Punjab signed him for ₹25 lakhs where he bowled a match-winning spell of 2/18 in his debut match for against KKR. In the same match he smashed 15 runs off 8 balls. After a superb outing in the domestic season, Tewatia secured himself a contract worth ₹3 crores at the Delhi Capitals. His salary remained the same for the next season. Tewatia was later traded to Rajasthan Royals from Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2020. It was a homecoming of sorts for Tewatia, who had made his IPL debut with RR in 2014.

Against the Kings XI Punjab in the eighth match of IPL 2020, Tewatia was promoted up the order to provide some fireworks after Steve Smith got out after scoring a half-century. However, the left-handed Haryana cricketer struggled to put bat to ball and even disturbed the run-chase for the Royals against KXIP. With some very lethargic batting, Tewatia almost reduced the Royal chase to a laughable stage. So much so that the no one could have fathomed RR making a comeback from there. The chase was so adversely affected by Tewatia (first eight runs off 19 deliveries) that even Samson, who scored yet another half-century, lost his concentration. However, the runs from the last four overs of the game made all the difference. With five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell's 18th over, Tewatia single-handedly changed the course of the chase completely. It was a phenomenal effort which ultimately led to the highest ever run-chase in the history of IPL and Tewatia had finally sparkled on the world stage.

Background

Rahul Tewatia was born in Sihi village of Faridabad in Haryana. The village is located 36.8 kilometers away from Delhi. Tewatia plays domestic cricket for Haryana. Rahul Tewatia's father, Krishnapal Tewatia, is a lawyer. He got inspiration from his uncle who was also a sportsperson. He is also a huge fan of Tennis player Roger Federer.