Rahul Tewatia Is A Special Player: Aakash Chopra On Seeing The Left-Hander Manhandle Rashid Khan

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra was in awe of Rajasthan Royals’ Rahul Tewatia for his game-changing knock against SunRisers Hyderabad on Sunday in Dubai. For the second time in IPL 2020, Rahul Tewatia turned things around for Rajasthan Royals, handing them a much-needed victory. Aakash Chopra mainly hailed Tewatia for manhandling Rashid Khan.

Rajasthan Royals’ top-order woes continued against SunRisers Hyderabad when they had to chase a modest 159 on a sluggish deck. The Royals found themselves three down within the powerplay once again as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Steve Smith perished without troubling the scores much. With Sanju Samson making his way as the fifth batsman to go, it came down to Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia. They added 85 off 7.5 overs to drive the Royals home by five wickets and keep them alive in the playoff race.

Rahul Tewatia, who smacked three fours off Rashid Khan in the 18th over, two of them which were reverse sweeps and one was a boundary off covers, impressed Aakash Chopra. The Afghan leggie had removed Sanju Samson and Robin Uthappa and gave only 11 runs in three overs. SunRisers’ skipper David Warner brought his best bowler when the Royals needed 36 off 18 balls. Aakash termed Tewatia as a special player for playing so well under pressure, snatching victories from the jaws of defeat.

“Everything else is fine, but that 18th over of Rashid Khan, first ball four with a reverse sweep, second ball four with another reverse sweep and an even better shot. The third ball when he hit the boundary over the covers, it was the best of them all. If you can execute such a nice shot under so much pressure, then Rahul Tewatia, you are a special player. I really like watching you and you won RR a match they were about to lose,” Aakash told in his Youtube channel.

“Rajasthan Royals’ victory was quite crucial after losing four matches on the bounce” : Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra added that the Royals’ had to win the match against the SunRisers, having lost four on the trot. The 42-year old reckons that Rajasthan won despite failures from the likes of Buttler, Smith, Stokes, and Samson. Hence, there is little to think about when all four begin firing.

“So RR registered their third win, which is so important because they had lost their last 4 matches. And they won without Samson and Smith scoring runs and despite Buttler and Stokes failing. So once they fire, what is going to happen,” he added further.

Also Read: KXIP Showed ‘How A Won Match Can Be Lost’ Against KKR: Aakash Chopra