Introduction
It was October 27, 2020, in Sharjah. Rajasthan Royals were chasing 224 runs against Kings XI Punjab in an IPL 2020 league match played in the UAE because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With 51 runs needed from the last 3 overs and Tewatia on 17 runs from 23 balls — struggling hopelessly — Rajasthan needed a miracle. Then Rahul Tewatia, a part-time cricketer from Haryana who had been misfiring all night, faced Sheldon Cottrell in the 18th over. What followed in the next 6 balls is one of the most extraordinary passages of play in the history of T20 cricket.
The Worst Batsman in the Match Becomes the Best
When Tewatia faced that Sheldon Cottrell over, he was the batsman you least wanted at the crease. He had faced 23 deliveries for 17 runs — a strike rate of about 74, disastrous in T20 cricket, catastrophic in a run-chase where Rajasthan needed 51 from 18 balls. The dressing room could see it. The broadcast commentary could see it. India watching at home could see it. And then, without warning, without a single visual cue that anything was about to change, Tewatia hit Cottrell for six. Then another six. Then another. Then another. Then a fifth six — five consecutive sixes off the same over by the same bowler from the same batsman who had looked completely helpless for the previous four overs. Rajasthan Royals went from needing 51 off 18 balls to needing 21 off 12, and the entire country that had been watching sport on their TV in the bio-bubble era had their phones at their mouths calling everyone they knew.
The Psychology of What Tewatia Did
What makes Tewatia’s over so fascinating beyond the statistics is the psychology. In cricket, a batter who has failed for 23 balls does not typically hit five sixes off six deliveries. The mind doesn’t work that way. The anxiety of failure compounds. The pressure accumulates. The natural response is to try to rebuild, to play correctly, to get back on track gradually. Tewatia did none of that. Whether it was a mid-innings tactical discussion, a conversation with partner Jos Buttler at the other end, or simply a sudden switch in Tewatia’s own head that night, he decided to disregard every delivery before that over and treat Cottrell’s first ball as if it were the first ball of the innings. Cricket coaches who study the mental side of the game point to that over regularly. It is a masterclass in what psychologists call ‘resetting’ — the ability to discard recent failure and approach the next moment with complete fresh eyes.
What Happened After the Six Sixes and Where Tewatia Went Next
Rajasthan Royals won that match. They chased 224 successfully — one of the highest successful T20 chases at that point. Tewatia finished on 53 off 31 balls. The match became known simply as ‘the Tewatia game’ in Indian cricket circles. Overnight, Tewatia became one of the most recognised names in the country — appearing in TV advertisements, receiving calls from international stars, and being shortlisted for the India squad. He went on to become a key player for Gujarat Titans and remained one of the IPL’s most valuable finishers for several seasons. But that one Cottrell over, those five sixes from a batsman who looked finished, remains the defining moment of his career and one of the defining moments of any IPL season. It is the perfect example of what the IPL produces: the unheralded, overlooked player seizing one moment of madness to write himself permanently into the history of the sport.
DID YOU KNOW? Cottrell had taken the wicket of Sanju Samson just one over before that six-hitting barrage. He went from match hero to match villain in the space of two overs — a reminder that in T20 cricket, the game’s momentum can shift in an instant.
Final Verdict Five sixes off six balls from a batsman who was failing. Rahul Tewatia’s Cottrell over is the purest distillation of what makes the IPL addictive — the certainty that no match is over, no situation is hopeless, and any player on any night can produce something that makes an entire country reach for their phones.