Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia is the perfect street-smart cricketer that a captain would want in his limited-overs side. He can roll his arms when asked and outfox the talented of the batsmen with his willy leg-spinners and can also use the long-lever to good effect when sent into slog in the middle. His breakthrough performance against Kings XI Punjab in the 2020 IPL catapulted him to the history books of the IPL. He is known for hitting five sixes in an over in the IPL 2020 to Carribean seamer Sheldon Cottrell. Currently, he is associated with Gujrat Titans since 2022. 

Rahul Tewatia Along the year

Career

Rahut Tewatia made his First Class debut in Ranji Trophy in 2013 and the very next year he drew the attention of Rajasthan Royals to himself and got signed by the franchise at his base prize of INR 10 Lakh he made his IPL debut on the same year against KKR. 

In 2017 Tewatia moved to Kings XI Punjab and delivered some important performances which increased his value from INR 10 Lakh to INR 3 Crore and Delhi took a big on him for 2018. 

In the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy Tewatia made his List A debut, In his maiden Vijay Hazare season he scored 246 runs in six games at an average of 123.00 which was the highest average in the season. 

Rahul Tewatia’s IPL career was growing decent until 2020 when he moved back to his parent Franchise and scored 255 runs in 14 games at 42.50. In 2022 he was included in the newcomer team Gujrat Titans and continued his form and helped GT win the title against RR in the first season. 

Domestic Career

The all-rounder cricketer from Haryana debuted for his home state side during the 2013–14 Ranji Trophy on 6 December 2013 against Karnataka at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium. He had a sedate start to his first-class career as he managed to muster 17 runs total in his two appearances with the bat. He later made his List A debut for Haryana in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 25 February 2017. In 14 FC matches, he has taken 32 wickets and scored 535 runs; in 40 List-A matches, he scored 1039 runs with 99* being his highest score.

IPL Career

Rahul Tewatia earned ₹10 lakhs while representing Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014. The Jaipur-based franchise retained him for the same amount in 2015. Two years later, Kings XI Punjab signed him for ₹25 lakhs where he bowled a match-winning spell of 2/18 in his debut match against KKR. In the same match, he smashed 15 runs off 8 balls. After a superb outing in the domestic season, Tewatia secured himself a contract worth ₹3 crores at the Delhi Capitals. His salary remained the same for the next season. Tewatia was later traded to Rajasthan Royals from Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2020. It was a homecoming for Tewatia, who had made his IPL debut with RR in 2014.

Against the Kings XI Punjab in the eighth match of IPL 2020, Tewatia was promoted up the order to provide some fireworks after Steve Smith got out after scoring a half-century. However, the left-handed Haryana cricketer struggled to put bat to ball and even disturbed the run-chase for the Royals against KXIP. With some very lethargic batting, Tewatia almost reduced the Royal chase to a laughable stage. So much so that no one could have fathomed RR making a comeback from there. The chase was so adversely affected by Tewatia (first eight runs off 19 deliveries) that even Samson, who scored yet another half-century, lost his concentration. However, the runs from the last four overs of the game made all the difference. With five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell's 18th over, Tewatia single-handedly changed the course of the chase completely. It was a phenomenal effort that ultimately led to the highest-ever run-chase in the history of IPL and Tewatia had finally sparkled on the world stage.

Despite his outstanding efforts with the bat in the lower middle order RR released him before the 2022 edition and he got included in the newcomer Gujrat Titans. GT used him so well and he did play some match-winning knocks for GT in the first season which led the team to its first title in its maiden season, Rahul is still playing for Gujrat Titand and giving his best.

Background

Rahul Tewatia was born in Sihi village of Faridabad in Haryana. The village is located 36.8 kilometers away from Delhi. Tewatia plays domestic cricket for Haryana. Rahul Tewatia's father, Krishnapal Tewatia, is a lawyer. He got inspiration from his uncle who was also a sportsperson. He is also a huge fan of Tennis player Roger Federer.

Rahul Tewatia is married his long-time girlfriend Ridhi Pannu on 29th November 2021, the couple received the blessings of god in the form of a baby girl on September 5, 2023.