KXIP’s Tewatia trips up KKR, wins Virender Sehwag’s praise
:Punjab’s Rahul Tewatia could have easily been gripped by nerves on Tuesday night. After all, the leg-spinner was playing his first match of IPL 2017, against a strong Kolkata Knight Riders cruising towards a moderate target of 168.
But the 23-year-old Haryana player is unlikely to forget the match after virtually clinching the must-win game for Kings XI Punjab. Brought on in the eighth over, Tewatia struck twice in an over, the 10th, removing Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa to rally KXIP to a 14-run win. Tewatia’s miserly spell of 4-0-18-2 made all the difference.
A thrilled Kings XI Punjab mentor Virender Sehwag said: “Chaa gaya ladke, aise hee khelta reh. Yahi chaiye tujse. Aaj khela tu apna game aur jeetaya” (You rocked with your performance today. Keep playing like this. Today you played your natural game and won it for the team).
Tewatia said: “Viru bhaiya is my mentor and also a role model. His appreciation means a lot to me. I was hoping to get a game much earlier and he knew I was getting desperate to make a mark. I am happy I bowled to the plan.
“After the power play, Viru Bhaiya and Glenn Maxwell wanted me to bowl a tight line and length and aim for wickets. Chris Lynn was plundering runs... Once Gambhir and Uthappa were out, we exerted pressure,” said the player from Faridabad, who was also mentored by Narendra Hirwani.
Tewatia played for Rajasthan Royals in the 2014 and 2015 IPL editions. “Rahul has turned into a useful all-rounder in the last couple of years. He did well for Haryana in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He has spent quality time with Viru bhaiya and picked up a lot from him,” said a Haryana Cricket Association official.
Mohit Sharma, Man-of-theMatch, said: “This was the first match for Rahul and he hasn’t played too many IPL games either. His spell was the turning point of the match.”