IPL 13: Felt pressure during the initial stage on my innings, says Tewatia

After playing a match-winning knock of 53 runs against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals' all-rounder Rahul Tewatia admitted that he felt a lot of pressure when he was not able to connect the ball during the initial stage of his innings.

After playing a match-winning knock of 53 runs against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals' all-rounder Rahul Tewatia admitted that he felt a lot of pressure when he was not able to connect the ball during the initial stage of his innings. His remark came as Rajasthan Royals chased down a total of 224 to defeat KXIP by four wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

For Rajasthan Royals, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, and Rahul Tewatia all scored 50+ scores to give the side a victory by four wickets. Tewatia came out to bat at number four and he was struggling at one stage as he had scored just 13 runs from his first 19 balls. However, in the 18th over bowled by Sheldon Cottrell, Tewatia hit five sixes to turn the side. The left-handed batsman played a knock of 53 as Rajasthan gained an improbable victory.

"This is the highest run-chase in the history of IPL, if these many runs are chased down, it obviously feels good when you are on the winning side. Initially, I was finding it tough, the required run-rate was high, I felt I was under a lot of pressure when I was not able to hit the big shots," Tewatia told Sanju Samson in a video posted on iplt20.com. "During the last overs, the required rate was more than 15, I thought if I am even able to hit one six and then we can come back into the match, after one six, three-four sixes can be connected. IPL is the biggest platform for playing for India, I was very low initially in the match, Robin Uthappa told me to just keep confidence in myself," he added.

When asked about his five sixes in the over of Sheldon Cottrell, Tewatia said: "In the over of Sheldon Cottrell, I did not think about hitting five sixes, I was just thinking of hitting three sixes and I was hoping to take 24-26 runs from that over. When I was able to connect one ball, I went for one more." Sanju Samson had played a knock of 74 runs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and he followed it up with an 85-run knock against Kings XI Punjab. Skipper Smith registered an innings of 50 against Punjab as well.

For KXIP, Mayank Agarwal had scored a ton and this was his first hundred in the IPL. The right-handed Mayank played a knock of 106 runs from 50 balls with the help of 10 fours and 7 sixes to take the side's total to 223/2. Mayank and KL Rahul put on 183 runs for the first wicket, and the duo created the record for the highest opening partnership for KXIP in the IPL. This stand between both batsmen is also the second-highest opening partnership in the IPL.

Rajasthan has now won their opening two matches in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The side will next lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders on September 30 while Kings XI Punjab will face Mumbai Indians on October 1. (ANI)

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