'I heard 'We saw Rahul Dravid getting angry because of you'' - Aditya Tare reveals lesser-known story from IPL 2014

The former Indian Premier League (IPL) player Aditya Tare has revealed an incident from the league in 2014. Mumbai Indians (MI) faced Rajasthan royals (RR) in their final league match, with both the teams in contention to qualify for the playoffs.

The Royals batted first and posted a solid total of 189/4 in 20 overs. However, Mumbai qualified, thanks to Aditya Tare's terrific six off the final ball. The six helped MI score 195/3, and since the final score and not the target is taken into consideration for NRR calculation, MI advanced to the playoffs. Meanwhile, Tare's six is also notable for eliciting a startling reaction from the Royals' then head coach Rahul Dravid.

Tare recalled the historic six that led MI to the playoffs and discussed Dravid's reaction at that time. He stated that while he did not witness Dravid's reaction, he had heard that the then Rajasthan coach was upset because of him. Notably, when Tare hammered the six, Dravid stood up and flung his cap away in frustration and then took it up. 

“I didn't see that at the time (Dravid's angry reaction), but I've heard it from everyone,'we saw Rahul Dravid getting angry because of you',” Tare told Star Sports.

He went on to say that since the scores were tied before the final ball, RR assumed they had qualified. He added that MI then learnt that they would get one more delivery and they have to score a boundary to secure a playoff spot. He further stated that he had already made up his mind to score a six before the delivery.

"Before that delivery, they thought they had qualified, because the scores were tied. Their dugout seemed pretty happy. But then we got the news that we have another ball to secure a playoff berth, only if we get boundary. First we thought we hit a six, but then, we realised we needed a four. But by then, I already had made my mind up to hit a six,” Tare said.

However, MI suffered defeat in an Eliminator against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their second title in 2014, defeating Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the summit clash.