"Sanju Samson denied Rahul Tewatia a single.."- Rajasthan Royals' support staff reveals how the legend of Tewatia was born in IPL 2020

Rajasthan Royals kick off their IPL 2024 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. They play three out of their four games at home. The match against LSG is an afternoon game starting from 3.30 pm IST. Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural IPL season in 2008. It was in 2022 then that they made the finals for the first time since the inaugural season. They finished fifth in IPL 2023 and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the playoffs.

Heading into IPL 2024, they have retained their core well with skipper Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult part of the core group. They have added some good players with Rovman Powell being the biggest name.

Heading into their season opener against Lucknow Super Giants, The Rajasthan Royals support staff looked back on Rahul Tewatia’s match-winning knock from IPL 2022. Chasing 232 to win, The Royals won the match with three balls to spare with Tewatia scoring 51 off 31 balls.

Rajasthan Royals Unlock Rahul Tewatia’s Heroics From IPL 2020

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In the Rajasthan Royals podcast, team manager Romi Bhinder and fielding coach Dishant Yagnik looked back at his breathtaking innings. Yagnik spoke about how Tewatia initially struggled to strike the ball but found back his form after the batting powerplay break taken in the 16th over of the chase.

“Whoever promoted Rahul Tewatia at that number was trying to hide within the camp,” said Yagnik. Bhinder then spoke about what made the management send Tewatia at number four in the game.

“It was the management’s call to send him at that number” clarified the Royals team manager. Dishant Yagnik then said that it was the call of the then Royals coach Andrew McDonald who saw him hitting sixes at will against the leg spinners in practice matches and thought that he would be a good batter at number four being a left-hander. He then spoke about the struggles faced by Rahul Tewatia while playing in that game.

“Rahul Tewatia was struggling to hit the balls initially. He was on 14 off 21 balls at one point. He was trying his best. There was more pressure on the support staff including myself who sent him at number four and then on Tewatia himself batting in the middle.”

“The Royals took the timeout in the 16th over. Sanju Samson then scored a few runs from Glenn Maxwell’s over. However, he denied the single off the last ball. It was then that Tewatia realised that things were getting out of control. In a way that was what might have triggered him to go for his shots and it ultimately worked in his favour” said Yagnik.

Tewatia then clobbered Windies pacer Sheldon Cottrel for 30 runs off the 18th over bringing the equation down to 20 off the final two overs. Tewatia was dismissed off the final ball of the 19th over. Jofra Archer then scored 13 off 3 balls to win the match for the Royals. 223 chased by the Royals still remains the highest successful run-chase in the IPL.

“That was the worst first 20 balls that I have ever played. I was hitting the ball very good in the nets, so I had belief in myself and kept going. I was not hitting the ball well initially, I saw in the dug-out, everybody was curious because they know that I can hit the ball long. I thought I had to believe in myself. It was a matter of one six, after that, I got going. Five in an over went amazing. Coach sent me to hit sixes off the leg-spinner, but unfortunately I didn’t hit him. Ultimately, I hit off the other bowlers” Tewatia said after the game on his knock.

Also Read: Rajasthan Royals Playing 11 vs Lucknow Supergiants- IPL 2024, Match 4