Former Indian batter Manoj Tiwary reckons Gujarat Titans should consider dropping Rahul Tewatia after GT suffered a crushing 99-run loss against Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday.
Tiwary said Rahul Tewatia’s heroics at Sharjah against Kings XI Punjab when he smashed Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in IPL 2020 has been forgotten. Tewatia was dismissed after scoring eight runs off 11 balls against Mumbai Indians as he was dismissed by Ashwani Kumar.
The left-hander has managed only 49 runs in six matches in IPL 2026 at a strike rate of 116.66. Tiwary added that either Rahul Tewatia or Shahrukh Khan should be dropped. Khan has managed only 35 runs in four innings this season and was dismissed after scoring 17 runs against MI.
Manoj Tiwary said on Cricbuzz, “You must drop either Rahul Tewatia or Shahrukh Khan because a lot of matches have gone by. Today was a golden chance. Aap jo match jeetaye the Sharjah mein 5 chakke marke woh bhul gaye hai log (People have forgotten the match you won by hitting five sixes in Sharjah). Only a few people remember that. Now, people just remember how you have played in your last innings. These two were retained at a high value, so they will have to repay that faith.”
On the other hand, former Indian pacer Mohit Sharma reckons GT should include Anuj Rawat in place of Rahul Tewatia.
“I feel that Anuj should have come in. There were 12 overs left at that stage. They will have to think about how they will utilize these things,” he said during the same discussion.
Furthermore, Tiwary reckons GT should consider replacing Glenn Phillips with Jason Holder. The New Zealand batter has scored 67 runs in five innings in IPL 2026.
He said, “They could have considered Jason Holder in place of Glenn Phillips. Glenn Phillips is not looking in rhythm, and if you see his records, he has not played an impactful innings in any league till now. He plays well for New Zealand and hits big sixes, but he wasted an opportunity here.”
Gujarat Titans will next take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Friday.
