IPL 2020: Rahul Tewatia explains how he countered Rashid Khan’s threat against SRH

Rahul Tewatia’s knock against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Sharjah conjured loads of praises from the cricket fraternity. On Sunday, October 11, the left-hander, yet another time, showed his sheer class, this time against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai. Chasing 159, the Royals were tottering at 94 for five after 15 overs and needed 65 off the last 30 at a required rate of 13.

At that point in time, Tewatia was batting on seven off 11 balls. From the 16th over onwards, he came into his own and upped the ante. He found the boundary with sheer dominance and scored 45 off 28 balls with four fours and two massive sixes. Tewatia was also severe on leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who had given only 12 runs in his first three overs and picked two wickets.

I just wanted to hold one end up: Rahul Tewatia
Rahul smashed the tweaker for three fours on the trot, two of which came off audacious reverse sweeps. Quite expectantly, he went on to get the Player of the Match award for his masterful knock. On his performance, Tewatia said how he put his head down amidst the flurry of wickets and also talked about his tactics to neutralise Rashid.

“The wickets were falling so I just wanted to hold one end up and wait for the boundary balls. I knew if I keep my self-belief and take it deep, I could pull it off. Against Rashid, I saw the opportunity to play the reverse sweep and took it,” Tewatia was quoted as saying in the press conference.

Tewatia also had a heated argument with SRH fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed, who got the big wickets of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. Talking about the same, he said, “No big deal, we just got taken away in the heat of the moment.”

In his knock, Tewatia also got the apt support from Riyan Parag, who scored 45 off 28 with four fours and two sixes. In fact, it was Parag, who hit the winning shot off Khaleel in the penultimate ball of the Royals’ run-chase. With the five-wicket victory, RR halted their four-match losing streak and are placed sixth in the points table.