I Knew If I Keep My Self-Belief And Take It Deep, I Could Pull It Off: Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia once again displayed that almost anything is possible in the crazy, frenetic world of the Indian Premier League after he, along with Riyan Parag [42*off 26 balls] pulled Rajasthan Royalw out from dead courtesy an unbeaten 85-run-stand to nail down the total of 159 against SunRisers Hyderabad.

Just like his exploits against KXIP, Tewatia [45* off 28 balls] timed his assault to perfection. After having managed 9 off 14 balls, the southpaw shifted gears brilliantly in the last 4 overs and it was really his hat-trick of boundaries against Rashid Khan in the 18th over that tilted the game in the Royals’ favor.

After having reverse-swept Khan on consecutive boundaries, Tewatia dished out a crunching cover-drive, and to rub salt in SRH’s wounds, the leggie was denied a potential wicket on the next delivery as the bails refused to fall off their grooves.

Following his latest heist, Tewatia explained how he staged his assault against Rashid Khan.

”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,” Rahul Tewatia said in the press conference.

When asked about his verbal altercation with Khaleel Ahmed in the immediate aftermath of the match, Tewatia said-

“No big deal, we just got taken away in the heat of the moment,” he added.

“When Rahul bhaiyya came to bat, the motto was to take it deep”- Riyan Parag on his match-winning stand with Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia was brilliantly supported by Riyan Parag, who finally displayed the first glimpse of his talent this IPL season.

Just like Tewatia, Parag got a lucky reprieve when he was dropped by Priyam Garg during the initial part of his innings. The right-hander made brilliant use of the reprieve, smashing 42* off 26 balls, including the match-winning six in the last over.

On his communication with Rahul Tewatia during the knock, Riyad said-

“When Rahul bhaiyya came to bat, the motto was to take it deep. Even Rashid had one (over left) so we calculated how to take on him and it worked well. I think when I went into bat after a few balls, I had a clear mind that I wanted to go after 16 overs. I think we just wanted to target the fast bowlers because the wicket was two-paced”

Also Read- Watch: Riyan Parag Celebrates With Bihu Dance After Hitting Winning Runs Against SRH