Gujarat Titans have emerged as the best, most successful team while chasing since IPL 2022, having won 11 out of 12 matches since last season. And Rahul Tewatia has been a key figure in their success in run-chases.
He’s done it a number of times – whether in their first match last season against Lucknow, a big run-chase against SRH, smashing Odean Smith for 2 sixes when 12 were needed in the last 2 balls, or, most recently, playing a calm lap shot off Sam Curran (Punjab Kings again facing the brunt of Tewatia’s mind-boggling finishing) when 4 runs were needed off 2 balls.
Rahul Tewatia’s latest feat earned him the moniker of the ICEMAN from the legendary commentator Ian Bishop.
So what kind of work is Rahul Tewatia putting behind the scenes to sharpen his finishing skills and become calm and composed temperamentally?
“Nothing happens overnight. I was given this role in 2020 when I was with the Rajasthan Royals. When they gave me the role, there was clarity. Batting at No.6 or No.7…obviously you have 14 league games and you get to bat eight or nine times in this situation. It’s a different thing if your team collapses and you get to bat in the 10th or 11th over. So most of the time you get to bat only after the 13th or 14th over. I have been practising the same thing for the last three-four years,” Rahul Tewatia said.
“I give myself targets, I play a lot of match simulations – which gives me the idea when I can take the chance and how I can finish the match. According to me the most important thing is you need to know the right time and the right bowler. It’s not like you can finish all 10 out of 10 matches but yes, you will finish the majority of the matches, which GT has been doing from the last season,” said Tewatia.
GT needed 7 runs in the last over against PBKS. On the second ball, Sam Curran bowled the set batter in Shubman Gill. A couple of more singles later, the pressure was on GT and Tewatia but the left-hander calmly shifted across his off-stump and paddle scooped Curran over fine leg fielder to complete another run-chase.
“I had two things on my mind. The leg-side is a bigger side and I thought I could take a couple but I felt it was slightly risky and with two deliveries remaining I thought that was a better shot. The ball was also reversing. I backed myself and executed the shot,” Tewatia said of his shot.
