3 franchises that can sign Rahul Tewatia in the IPL 2022 Auction
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Rahul Tewatia
Rahul Tewatia has become a sensation for the Rajasthan Royals after the IPL 2020 season, owing to his courageous and hard-hitting batting style in the middle order and useful leg-spin bowling. Rajasthan has benefited greatly from Rahul Tewatia’s presence. Tewatia is a versatile cricketer who can contribute with both the bat and the ball in the T20 format.
The 13th edition of the IPL was the breakthrough season for him as he was in excellent form, scoring 255 runs at an average of 42.50 and a strike rate of nearly 140. He also contributed with the bowl taking 10 wickets. He came into the limelight when he smashed Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in a single over to help Rajasthan Royals grab a stunning victory in a high-scoring thriller against Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab). Tewatia got his first call-up to the Indian cricket team in their recent T20I series against England as a result of his fiery performances in the IPL. Despite being called up, Tewatia did not appear in any of the five-match series but it showed the impact that he has created with his performances.
Tewatia has played 41 matches in IPL with 453 runs to his name and 26 wickets under his belt. He is expected to gain loads of bids in the IPL 2022 mega auction owing to his recent performances. Let’s take a peek at three teams who might look to rope in Rahul Tewatia in the IPL 2022 Auction.
Rajasthan Royals
The current team of Rahul Tewatia, Rajasthan Royals are the prime prospect to bid for him in the IPL 2022 Auction. BCCI haven’t laid out the new retention rule but going by the earlier rule we can expect Rajasthan Royals to retain Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Ben Stokes and with two Right to Match (RTM) cards available with them, they would most probably use one of them for Rahul Tewatia. He provides a much-needed balance in the middle order and could play a supporting hand to Ben Stokes.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad are going through a transition phase as they had sacked David Warner from the captaincy position due to their poor outing in the now suspended IPL 2021. SRH have been highly dependent on their top 3 to deliver for them. For the past few years, SRH have struggled to find the correct balance in the team due to lack of match-winning players in the middle order. The skillset which Rahul Tewatia possesses might be the perfect thing SRH have been looking for. His ability to finish off at the death would reduce pressure from the top order. He can also play a supporting role to Rashid Khan, over whom SRH have been over-dependent for the last 4-5 seasons.
Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings are another side who have struggled with a weak middle order for the past few seasons. We have seen that PBKS had to compromise their bowling to fit in an overseas all-rounder. Addition of Rahul Tewatia, who is an uncapped Indian all-rounder will open up the opportunities for PBKS to play an extra overseas bowler. PBKS are highly dependent on KL Rahul to carry the innings which results in him scoring at a slow pace. But with Tewatia at lower down the order, the openers can play freely and score at a decent strike rate.
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Mohamed Azhar
(370 Articles Published)