Excited to play alongside Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan for the first time: Rahul Tewatia [Interview]

Having done well for Rajasthan Royals in the last couple of seasons, Rahul Tewatia will serve Gujarat Titans in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. The Ahmedabad-based franchise splashed a whopping INR 9 crore in the mega auction to get the all-rounder on board. Notably, GT had to beat the likes of Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore to acquire Tewatia’s services.

As Tewatia’s bidding started at INR 40 lakh, he snared a hike of 2250% from his base price. Hence, expectations are sky-high from the all-rounder. The 28-year-old leg-spinner can restrict the run flow with his accurate bowling alongside scoring handy runs lower down the order.

While Tewatia has put up many impressive performances in IPL, his 53-run knock against Kings Punjab (now Punjab Kings) has to be the highlight of his career. The southpaw smoked West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, taking RR to an incredible win. Speaking of his bowling, the leggie has 32 wickets in 48 IPL games at an economy rate of 7.71.

Hence, Gujarat Lions would want the southpaw to unleash his A-game at the tournament. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Tewatia opened about many things and made some interesting revelations as well. From speaking about his famous selfie celebration with Riyan Parag to his ambitions this season, let’s look at how the star all-rounder responded to our queries.

Here are the excerpts from Rahul Tewatia’s interview:

What’s the story behind your selfie celebration with Riyan Parag?

It wasn’t pre planned at all. Riyan, after taking the catch, came running to me and went like ‘celebration celebration.’ Initially, I couldn’t understand what sort of celebration is required. Then he held the ball like a camera and acted like clicking a selfie. Then I got to know that it was the selfie celebration.

Do you think you should bat higher up the order when the team needs quick runs?

It totally depends upon the team management. Wherever they think I can contribute to the team, that’s the best place for me.

With big amount comes big responsibilities…is it motivating for you or feeling sort of butterflies in stomach?

Obviously, when a team buys you at such a high price, it somewhere plays in the back of your mind. However, at the end of the day, you need to perform in the field regardless of the amount you have received in the auction. The most important thing is to put up performances and at that time, you don’t think much about the price factor.

How will you compare yourself from the time you first played in IPL to now?

When I made my IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2014, I didn’t have the experience. I was coming from age-group cricket and was playing at that level for the first time. So, the biggest factor was experience and playing in front of the crowd. I had never played in front of spectators. So, these were some challenges at that time.

However, I gained experience with more matches. So, if you compare me now from my debut season, a lot of maturity has come by the experience I gained in IPL and domestic cricket.

You are going into a team which doesn’t have prior IPL experience and has essentially a clean slate. Will that play any factor according to you in the season?

The players, who are in the team, have all played IPL before. And the ones in the management were also associated with some or the other IPL teams. So, the team is new but the players are experienced. Hence, it will be a new and exciting experience.

Have you set any personal targets going into the upcoming season of IPL?

I haven’t thought much about it. There’s no specific target like I want to score these many runs or take these many wickets. I will focus on the process which I have been following without worrying about the results. Whatever the team requires me to do; I will take the job and perform as per situations. So, there are no personal goals. Whatever role I am assigned by the management, I will try fulfilling that.

What do you make of 10 teams in IPL? How do you think will it affect the league and the competition?

First of all, it’s a great opportunity for the domestic players, who were not getting picked in previous seasons. So, with the addition of two new sides, many domestic players have bagged a deal. It’s a great positive. Also, more games will be played this year and hence, many players will have substantial chances of proving their mettle.

Which teammates of yours are you most excited to play with?

I am going to play with Rashid Khan and Hardik Pandya for the first time. So, I am very excited for that. I have played with David Miller during my stint with Rajasthan Royals. So, playing with him once again will be exciting as well.