To some Cricket is a waste of time and resources. But to those of us who follow Cricket it is a way of life. What makes it especially endearing to us is the numerous stories that arise out of it. With so much Cricket being played we tend to chase the stats and celebrate the results. Unfortunately, we miss the stories of struggle, second chances and redemption songs which makes us romanticize the game of cricket and follow it so passionately. Now that IPL 2024 is coming to an end, I would like to relive some of these stories.

Yash Dayal- A redemption song

It is April 9, 2023, Gujrat Titans are playing Kolkata Knight riders. Kolkata needs 29 runs to win with one over remaining. Conventional wisdom suggests that anything above 20 to defend gives the advantage to bowling team and anything above 24 means victory to Bowling side. Yash Dayal is bowling the final over. Like most bowlers bowling the death overs he tries to bowl Yorkers but misses his yorker lengths on three occasions and pays the price as Rinku Singh hit his first three full tosses for sixes. After that, his half-tracker was tonked over long-on while his final delivery was flat-batted down the ground for six more, making Rinku sing an overnight hero. Gujarat Titans lose the game by three wickets, and Dayal is heartbroken. While the broadcasters’ camera showed the Knight Riders celebrating deliriously after the match, they also showed Dayal on his knees, wiping his forehead and being patted on his back by his team-mates. The next day, internet is splashed with images of him sitting on his haunches, eyes covered with towel, while teammates try to console him. Dayal does not get a game for more than a month and is then released by Gujrat Titans to be auctioned. He is picked by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for this season.

Fast forward to this year May 18, 2024, Bengaluru play Chennai in a knockout match. RCB-CSK clashes, in general, have that extra bit of spice to them and the air of anticipation around this one was palpable hours before the start of the game. The games at the Chinnasamy generally have a sea of red dominating the stands, but not when CSK are in town. There were as many yellow shirts in the stands as red. At any point that the RCB-RCB chants went up, they are quickly drowned by the CSK-CSK shouts. If Kohli is welcomed with wild frenzy, Dhoni is welcomed with bedlam in stands. Chennai will qualify for the Play offs if they win but RCB needed to beat CSK by 18 runs to qualify.

Dayal, (who has had a average run in IPL 2024, with wickets to show for his efforts but having been carted for more than 50 runs in four of the matches), is tasked with perhaps the most important over of his short IPL career. His team’s playoff hopes hinge on his and match’s last six balls. He has 16 runs to defend for RCB to advance to the playoffs and is bowling to one of the greatest finishers in world/IPL history in Dhoni. As Dayal stood at the top of his mark, for the final over all he wished for was to “deliver two balls well”. He hadn’t had the best of days up to that point, going for 35 off his first three overs. His first ball is a low full toss on the pads and Dhoni duly carts it out of the stadium for a mammoth six.

Dayal’s subconscious mind immediately takes him one year back to That Match in Ahmedabad. The nerves start to jangle. Is history repeating itself? With Chennai requiring 11 off five to qualify, Dayal is staring down the barrel. Will he give in to his nerves and be taken apart by Dhoni as only Dhoni can? Or will he take this shot at redemption, a way to show that he belongs. He runs in and delivers a slower ball around off stump. Dhoni swings across the line but is deceived by the lack of pace and the top edge carries to deep-backward square leg. Pandemonium sets loose in the Bengaluru stands. The RCB fans are ecstatic, the CSK fans are stunned.

But the game is not yet over. Shardul Thakur and Jadeja are more than capable of getting 11 off four. Dayal, though, remains unflappable. He lands four slower balls on the spot for 0, 1, 0, 0 as RCB complete the most stunning turnarounds to qualify for the playoffs. Virat Kohli is nearly in tears, Faf du Plessis doesn’t know what to do, and the RCB fielders are running around the Chinnasamy Stadium. And amid all that, Dayal stands tall with a beaming smile and a final-over redemption story for the ages. It was a performance worthy of a match that had so much at stake.

So what changed for Dayal in the two matches? Dayal plays domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh, the same team as Rinku – the batter’s familiarity with the bowler’s plans may have helped him chase down the improbable final-over target. Also, against Rinku he was trying to bowl Yorkers with a wet ball and kept missing the length, converting them to full tosses. But against Dhoni the ball was changed after the first ball six that went out of the stadium. The dry and harder ball was easier to grip and consequently Dayal was able to bowl back of length slower balls. So, ironically the best thing that could happen to him was getting hit out of the ground by Dhoni. Such are the vagaries on which success and failure depend and makes Cricket a game of glorious uncertainties. This is the reason why Cricket mirrors life itself, where inches can decide one’s fate, and circumstances beyond one’s control can be the difference between success and failure. We can only fight and strive to complete our own redemption arc.

For the longest time, Dayal’s name has been associated with the bowler who failed to defend 28 in the final over. Now, perhaps, he might be known as the one who denied Dhoni a fairytale finish. Perhaps it was meant to be for Yash Dayal.

Swapnil Singh Hope for a journeyman

Swapnil Singh is 33 years old left arm spinner and a proper journeyman. Long ago (in 2008) He was in the running to be a part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad. But he was eventually left out as the selectors preferred Ravindra Jadeja. Born In UP but he made his first-class debut for Baroda in 2006 at the age of 14 years and 355 days. Over the next ten years, he played just 76 domestic matches, of which 31 came during the two-year period of 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. His long journey of two decades in domestic cricket has taken him from Lucknow to Baroda and now Dehradun, where he currently plays for Uttarakhand in Ranji trophy. He was dumped unceremoniously by Baroda, preferring to groom a youngster over him. He moved to Dehradun playing for Uttarakhand in domestic Cricket. It took him eight years to make his IPL debut, for Punjab Kings in 2016. He was promptly sidelined and spent seven years in wilderness, of domestic cricket.

He was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants in 2023. But before being picked up by LSG in 2023, he was first called up as a net bowler, a role he reluctantly accepted, with a heavy heart. He impressed Narendra Hirwani (who was a spinning Consultant) during the nets and also the Head coach Andy flower. He featured in two games for LSG but couldn’t pick any wickets and was promptly released by Lucknow for the auction.

Swapnil was called for a pre-season trial camp by RCB before this year IPL, where he was remembered by Andy Flower and was given a full workout not only as a bowler but also as a lower order batsman. Despite all this he was unsold in the initial rounds of the auction. Playing Ranji Trophy at that time, he had decided to quit after the season and concentrate on something else. Much to his surprise he was picked up right in the end by Bengaluru. It was the first time he was picked in the IPL for two seasons in a row.

Swapnil knew that he will not be playing initially as he was picked up by RCB as a back-up left-arm spinner to Mayank Dagar, who had been traded from SRH. His made an impassioned plea to the head coach “Just give me one chance, this might be my last chance.” Flower was non-committal but knew Swapnil from his previous stint at Lucknow Super Giants. He played in the nets like he was playing in a match, giving his all. When Dagar wasn’t as effective and RCB found themselves at the bottom of the points table with seven losses in eight games, Swapnil got his opportunity.

He had a dream run with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He has now been part of each of their six straight wins that have catapulted them into the playoffs. He has so far picked up six wickets in six games at an economy rate of 8.76. But more than the number of wickets, He has bowled in the powerplay with great control, and has delivered key wickets, and played handy little cameos with the bat.

Before the IPL started this year Swapnil told his brother he wanted to hit a four and a six and get one wicket. He was sure that if he played, he would get at least one over to bowl but was not sure about getting to bat. Ironically, he batted before he bowled hitting a six and a four. He also got a wicket in the match not from his first six balls, but in his first over (he bowled a no ball) and got the key wicket of Klassen from the seventh delivery.

His dream run has come to an end, with RCB losing to Rajasthan royals, but his story might yet have a fairy tale ending.

Rahul Tewatia- from a noun to a verb

This might be considered cheating as Rahul Tewatia is already an established name and I am not talking about his performance in this IPL but his breakout performance in IPL 2020.

Tewatia is the kind of player who will not get a lot of opportunity. His leg spin is not classic, his batting unproven. It shows in how his home state Haryana struggled to find him a regular spot in their sides.

Till IPL 2020 Tewatia had played only six first-class games, 18 List A games and 32 T20 ones. And he was about to turn 27. His T20 debut came in the IPL, for Rajasthan Royals in 2014, but he was soon traded to Kings XI Punjab. He next played in the IPL in 2017, only to be traded to Capitals (Daredevils back then) next year.

But Twenty20 cricket brought cricketers such as Tewatia a chance to build a career. The condensed nature of T20 allowed teams to even sacrifice players to such an extent They could hone only certain part of their game to get favorable match ups. Need to go after a leg spinner, get a left hander in to bat. Need runs in the powerplay get someone good against seam bowling. The short duration of the format means you can even afford to waste one player in case you don’t get your desired match ups. However, when you get that chance, you have to be precise and efficient with executing the skill you have been brought on to execute.

Twenty20 cricket has freed batsmen up. They actually prepare to hit sixes. Earlier batsmen only used to practice in the nets, which could be claustrophobic. You didn’t quite know and watch for yourself how far you were hitting balls. Now they have intra-squad contests to see who hits more sixes. Royals had one such in their camp to see who hit most sixes in an over. Tewatia hit four or five sixes in an over in one of these matches. This prompted Rajasthan Royals to slot in Tewatia as a pinch hitter used to give the run rate a boost.

On to the match against Kings XI Punjab. RR were chasing 224 for a win. As it unfolded, it felt like a chase that defied logic in every way possible. But by the time the Rajasthan Royals were done, they had chased down a target of 224.

Sanju Samson put on 81 for the second wicket with Steven Smith in just 40 balls, putting the Royals well in touch with their asking rate. They then promoted Rahul Tewatia – their only left-hander – to No. 4, and the move was beginning to look like one of the most ill-judged tactical interventions in IPL history when he struggled to hit the ball off the square and crawled to 8 off 19 balls. Cameras kept panning to the dugout and kept showing worried faces. Tewatia kept the noise out. He kept trying to hit that one six to get him going. In the timeout, at 5 off 13, having failed to get the better of the leg spinner, Tewatia told his captain, Steven Smith, he was still in it, that he could hit three sixes each of Sheldon Cottrell and Mohammed Shami, international bowlers both. A bemused Smith said, “Mate, that is great self-belief.” Was he making fun of Tewatia almost certainly yes.

When Tewatia walked in, the Royals needed 124 off 11 overs. There were sound reasons for them to promote Tewatia: he was the only left-hander in their line-up, he had shown flashes of six-hitting ability in the past – and more than flashes in the team’s recent training sessions – and there were two legspinners in the Kings XI attack to target. But The commentators rightly questioned the wisdom of promoting Tewatia on a night when orthodox hitting produced more and easy runs. Chances of a batsmen making quick runs were better than a pinch hitter.

Coaches tell batsmen if they are struggling, chances are others will too, so don’t give up, hang in there and don’t leave it to the batsman to follow. And how Tewatia struggled to come to terms with either of the leg spinners, his favorable match up or even against the pace change of Neesham. To make things worse Sanju Samson faced only 15 balls in the duration. Tewatia could not even rotate the strike. At that point of time RR needed 90 of 32 balls.

Imagine what is going through Tewatia mind. He was promoted to hit boundaries but is unable to get the ball off the square. It happened, most infamously, to Yuvraj Singh, one of the cleanest strikers Cricket has ever seen, in the World T20 final of 2014. It happened to a young Ravindra Jadeja when he was promoted up the order in a 2009 World T20 game. It keeps happening to someone or the other.

The essence of sport is to fight through tough situations. The crunched nature of this sport doesn’t allow for it. It forces coaches on to pull back the batsman who is sucking the momentum out of an innings. You have only so many deliveries and 10 wickets to make use of them. Personal struggle is a nicety best left for the nets. The commentators wanted Tewatia to commit the less dramatic version of stepping on his wicket: just leave the crease and swing so that you can at least get stumped when you miss. At one point, even Samson asked him to do the same: run down the pitch and hit hard.

This is where the philosophical essence of sport comes into question. Tewatia didn’t want to tap out. To him, the philosophy was clear: you do not give up the struggle. Tewatia never tapped out. He kept doing the right thing. He kept picking the wrong ‘Uns, kept trying to go over long-off, but kept getting beaten. With every dot and single, the walls kept closing in, the asking rate kept rising, and Samson kept getting frustrated. Imagine the abuse that awaited on his Instagram page.

You wonder how Tewatia felt when Samson nearly holed out, playing a frustrated shot because of all the momentum loss. Or when Samson refused to take a single lest Tewatia get back on strike.

But the six-hitting ability that he possesses came into view just when the Royals seemed out of it. Tewatia smacked Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in a match-turning, match-defining 18th over, and an improbable 51 off 18 balls turned into a far more straightforward 21 off 12.

This innings transcended tactics. It went into the larger essence of sport. How can you be an elite competitor and just give up? This innings made you want to believe in the romance of the struggle. That the tide can turn. One cannot ever stop hoping. Like Andy drufess said “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things”. Even in a duration as small as T20 cricket. That tapping out, in life as in sport, is not really the option after all.

In the end, the sensational turnaround – six sixes in the last eight balls Tewatia faced – didn’t prove any of the rationalists wrong. There is no way this kind of an effort is repeatable.

Then he did it again, just a few weeks later. The Rajasthan Royals were staring defeat in the eye, against Sunrisers Hyderabad. They were 105 in 16 overs. Their time was running out. Required run rate is 13.5. RR have only two wickets remaining. Plus, Tewatia will have to take on Rashid Khan. Khan usually concedes only seven runs an over in the last four of an IPL game. If his last magnum opus was hitting a fast bowler for five sixes, here he whacked a genius leg spinner for three boundaries in a row. Two of them were utterly bonkers, out-of-nowhere, middle of the bat reverse sweeps.

Tewatia says this is why he has been picked. The pinch-hitter who breathes life into dead and buried chases. It’s officially a thing now. To do a “Tewatia” means doing something impossible or improbable.

Rahul Tewatia a journeymen Cricketer who will never represent his country has become a verb from a noun.