Rahul Tewatia had received a promotion to No.4 in Rajasthan Royals’ massive chase against Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2020 clash at the Sharjah cricket stadium. His plan was simple – tackle the spinners and play a cameo. Sanju Samson and Steve Smith had laid out a solid platform for Rajasthan Royals to go for the kill. However, Rahul Tewatia initially struggled to get bat on ball. He struggled against Ravi Bishnoi and his inability to play the shots had dented the run-rate. The pressure was on Sanju Samson. By the time Rahul Tewatia reached 8 off 19 balls, there was immense criticism of the Haryana all-rounder. Everybody had said the move was a disaster. When Sanju Samson fell, it looked like the game was up for Rajasthan Royals.
In the post-match presentation, Rahul Tewatia admitted that it was the worst 20 balls he had faced in his life. He also revealed that he was under pressure and was feeling bad that he was about to undo all the good work done by Sanju Samson and Steve Smith. But, Rahul Tewatia was also backing himself up. He knew that he only needed ‘one big hit’ to sway the momentum. Sanju Samson kept reminding him about that ‘big hit’.
“I could not time the ball. Sanju Samson was telling me, “It was all about that one hit. There were some thoughts going on in my mind. It was only a question of one big hit. I was sent to tackle the spinners but Ravi Bishnoi bowled well. We were looking at which over to target,” Tewatia revealed in a press conference organised by the Rajasthan Royals.
That ‘big hit’ finally came in the 18th over. Having hit a six off Bishnoi, Tewatia was still 17 off 23 balls. In came Sheldon Cottrell and he proceeded to change the entire course of the match. Tewatia blasted five sixes in the over. Had it not been for one unfortunate miss, he would have definitely matched Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes in one over. Tewatia notched up his fifty off just 30 balls with a sliced six off Mohammed Shami. From 8 off 19 balls, Tewatia had blasted 45 off 11 balls to help Rajasthan Royals break their own record and achieve the highest successful IPL chase in history.
About the change in momentum, Tewatia said, “When I started hitting, I wanted to keep it up. I was confident that when I started hitting, I was confident to get the game closer. I got one hit and luckily, I kept hitting.”
Sanju’s strategy
For every six that Rahul Tewatia was hitting, Sanju Samson was applauding from the dugout. He had told Tewatia to hang in there and believe in one ‘big hit’. Sanju Samson even turned down a single when Tewatia was struggling but he outlined what his strategy was.
“I wanted to take most of the strike as Glenn Maxwell was bowling. I was confident as a right-hander , I would tackle the off spinner well. Tewatia was not middling the ball and as a left-hander he was finding it difficult. It was the right decision (to not take the single),” Samson said.
Samson and Tewatia’s partnership was the key in Rajasthan Royals winning the match. It also thought many cricket fans not to judge any cricketer. It also gave a valuable lesson to Tewatia that it only needs one ‘big hit’ to change momentum. And, the Sihi lad did it on that night in Sharjah.
