Magazine : 
IPL 2023: I give myself targets, I play a lot of match simulations, says Rahul Tewatia on finishing matches
Defending champions Gujarat Titans were on course to chase down 154 comfortably, thanks to Shubman Gill's serene 67 off 49 balls, laced with seven fours and a six. With seven runs needed off the final over , after Arshdeep Singh conceded only six runs in the 19th over, Gill survived a run-out chance, before Sam Curran uprooted his off-stump on the very next ball, bringing sudden tension into the match.
Curran then nailed two back-to-back yorkers, and David Miller completed the second run with a desperate dive. With four runs needed off the last two balls, Rahul Tewatia calmly finished off the chase by moving across and scooping a full ball from Curran over a short fine leg for four to seal the deal for Gujarat with a ball to spare. After leading Gujarat to their 11th victory out of 12 chasing attempts, Tewatia said his success as a finisher is due to practice in giving himself targets and doing a lot of match simulations, which may occur during a match in future.
"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."
"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 in the post-match press conference.
Talking about leading Gujarat to win in a sudden nervy situation, Tewatia stated he was well-prepared for the same though the oddball was causing discomfort to the batters in finding boundaries regularly, allowing Punjab to come back in the game. "Targets like these, sometimes they become one-sided games. The kind of start given by Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, they opened up the match but they (PBKS) came back and bowled well in the middle overs, they did not concede boundaries for three-four overs."
"Credit should be given to them for pulling it back. Towards the end, it was reversing and it became difficult to hit at will. But this is cricket -- they came back well but we finished the game to be on the winning side." "When Shubman got out and was coming back, he told me that the ball was reversing a bit. So it was a good thing, getting the information from a set batsman when I was going in to play two-three balls. So knowing beforehand that the ball was reversing kept me prepared."
"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," he concluded.
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