"Can't wait to share the dressing room with Virat Kohli" - Rahul Tewatia on maiden India call-up
Rahul Tewatia is raring to share the dressing room with Indian skipper Virat Kohli and the likes in the coming weeks.
Rahul Tewatia was named in India's 19-man squad for the home T20I series against England, culminating his precipitous rise from domestic cricket and the IPL.
Playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2020, he developed his image as a swashbuckling lower-order batsman with more than useful leg-spin skills.
Overall, he scored 255 runs from 14 games at a strike rate of around 140 and bagged 10 wickets in the season.
His twin match-winning knocks of 53(21) and 45(28) remain etched in the memories of every IPL fan as well.
Speaking to ANI, Rahul Tewatia expressed his keenness to learn from the best in the business.
"So far, I played against Virat Kohli in the IPL. Now I will play with him and share the dressing room with him. Cannot wait to share the dressing room with him and some of the best cricketers in world cricket. It will be all about learning from them and understanding how they compete against the best in the business and succeed," said Rahul Tewatia.
"You do know that the best in the world come over to play in the IPL. If you perform against them, it also helps build your confidence. I am glad that I could play match-winning knocks for Rajasthan Royals this season," he added.
Tewatia was excellent in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well.
From three T20 innings, he scored 82 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 157.69 including two blistering knocks of 31(16) and 41(26) against Delhi and Kerala respectively.
The level of competition for spinners in the Haryana team is one of the toughest - Rahul Tewatia
Attributing his success to his experience of playing in the state team, Rahul Tewatia said breaking into and performing for the side with experienced campaigners like Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal did wonders for his self-confidence.
"Imagine fighting it out for a place in the team which has legends like Amit Mishra bhai. Then you had Jayant Yadav, and Yuzvendra Chahal has also represented the state team whenever he has not been busy playing for India. The level of competition for spinners in the Haryana team is one of the toughest I would say. Finding a place and performing for Haryana not only gave me confidence but also helped me back my skills," said Rahul Tewatia.
Rahul Tewatia is currently representing Haryana in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Given that the T20I series against England will comprise of 5 matches back-to-back, Tewatia will also fancy his chances of making his India debut in Ahmedabad.