How patience, self-belief paid off for Rahul Tewatia

After five IPL seasons in wilderness, all-rounder Rahul Tewatia’s moment of reckoning finally came on September 27 night at the Sharjah Cricket Ground in the most fairytale fashion.

Playing for Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing IPL, his 31 ball-53 not only outshone the batting performances by Mayank Agarwal and K.L. Rahul of Kings XI Punjab, and his skipper Steve Smith and teammate Sanju Samson, but also turned the match on its head, giving the Royals their second win in as many outings so far.

Born and brought up in Faridabad, Haryana, 27-year-old Tewatia's life story is one of persistence and belief. His father—a lawyer—would take a young Tewatia on his two-wheeler to former India wicketkeeper Vijay Yadav's academy, and also to different venues to play matches. His father had innate belief in his son's abilities, and while he was no "special talent", the boy worked hard through age-group cricket and made a name for himself in Haryana first-class team, as a leg spinner who could also bat aggressively down the order. With two leggies already in the side—veteran Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal—getting a regular place in the Haryana Ranji team was not always possible. He would play only when either of them went on national duty or was unavailable. Meanwhile, he carved a place for himself in the white-ball squads of Haryana—his clean hitting, once the ball was slightly old, ensuring he took his team over the finish line while batting in the late middle order. 

On Sunday, however, eyebrows were raised when Tewatia was sent at number 4, ahead of the experienced Robin Uthappa, by the RR team management. It soon became a nightmare as he struggled to put bat to ball. In Tewatia's own words, the first 20 balls he faced were the worst he ever played. But he believed his time would come, and that it was just a matter of one ball, one six. Sanju Samson, meanwhile, was in sensational form. Though Tewatia managed to hit a six off Ravi Bishnoi in the 15th over, it brought little relief as Samson got out soon after. RR needed 63 runs off 24 balls.

Uthappa hit two fours in the next over, and the equation stood at 51 runs in three overs. And then it happened.

Sheldon Cottrell bowled the 18^th over, with Tewatia on strike. Four sixes followed, a dot ball, and another six. Almost all were proper cricketing shots, rather than mistimed slogs or lucky top edges. It was not just an innings of redemption, but one of self-belief and never-say-die attitude.

Tewatia fell in last ball of the 19th over bowled by Mohammad Shami, but not before hitting the last of his seven sixes. With Jofra Archer hitting two maximums earlier in that Shami over, Tewatia’s job was almost done. RR needed two more runs to win and they did it with three balls to spare.

The innings left experts, fans and even KXIP players shaking their heads in disbelief. Leg-spinner Mishra, who has been a standout bowler for Delhi Capitals and is Tewatia’s Haryana teammate said, "He is always focused more on his batting. It was good to see what he did yesterday. It was one of the best innings of his life. The way he has evolved, it will hold good for Haryana cricket team. To be honest, I knew what he was capable of but had not expected him to play such an innings! These kind of innings don’t happen often."

According to former Haryana coach and selector Ashwini Kumar, Tewatia is not a slam-bang type of hitter as many would like to think. “One always expects a good innings off Rahul [Tewatia]. He is a good attacking batsman, most useful in lower middle-order. In fact, he has been a batting all-rounder for us, as he was encouraged to focus on his batting, too, due to the presence of other more skilled leg-spinners in the Haryana senior side. He now has maturity in his cricket, where he can read the situation well and respond accordingly."

Before IPL 2020, Tewatia had scored just 111 runs since he was picked by Kings XI Punjab in 2014, followed by a move to RR, and then DC. His aggressive batting was noticed and backed by the RR team management and he has always been encouraged to play his natural game.

His chances of coming in at number 4 for RR again are not so bright, especially after the arrival of a certain Ben Stokes. Though the credit for RR's victory on Sunday should also go to Smith, Samson and Archer, Tewatia’s knock will be remembered for years to come.