I Always Loved Batting. It Is My Plus Point, Says Rahul Tewatia Ahead Of England T20I Series

Rahul Tewatia, the Haryana all-rounder, said that he couldn’t believe the news about his selection in the Indian T20I team for the England series, saying that he was shocked when Yuzvendra Chahal called him to give him the good news.

Tewatia came into the limelight for his performances for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2020 in the UAE. His shining moment was his five sixes in an over against Punjab Kings Sheldon Cottrell, helping Royals win the match from an impossible situation.

I Could Not Believe It When Yuzvendra Chahal Called Me: Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia mentioned that the first time Yuzvendra Chahal, his Haryana teammate and friend told him that he had been selected in the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against England, to be played in Ahmedabad, he thought Chahal was playing a prank on him.

“I could not believe it when Chahal called me. Then he came to my room and showed me the team list, and when I saw my name, I was filled with such happiness that I would never really find words to describe how I felt,” Tewatia told Khaleej Times over the phone from India.

My Batting Is My Plus Point: Rahul Tewatia

His aggressive left-handed batting makes Tewatia an ideal T20 player to have, in addition to his brilliant leg-spin. Tewatia shared that he worked on his batting and loved it given that there was a lot of competition in the Haryana team for spinners.

“In our Haryana team, we have quality spinners like Amit Mishra, Chahal, and Jayant (Yadav). All three of them have played for India. Obviously, the competition was very tough. I always loved batting even though I was a leg-spinner from the start of my career. But I really enjoyed my batting. Then when I got into the Haryana team which had so many quality spinners, my batting became my plus point,” he said.

Everybody Notices You When You Perform In IPL: Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia credited his IPL performances last year for his selection in the Indian team which has enabled him to share the dressing room with icons like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

“Obviously if you perform in the IPL, which is a very big stage, everybody notices you because there are quality international players in the tournament. The world’s best players play in the IPL. So people noticed me after I played well last season,” said Tewatia, who slammed 255 runs and picked 10 wickets in IPL 2020.

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