Rahul Tripathi clearly has been the ‘find of the season’ and his match-winning knock of 93 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He led the counter-attack of Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) as they lost Ajinkya Rahane once again in the powerplay overs. Rahul was under pressure but it did not seem like it, he took the game away from KKR in the powerplay overs only taking on their strike bowlers Umesh Yadav and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Tripathi reached his fifty in a matter of 23 balls registering the fastest half century for RPS. On the other hand, wickets were falling. Steven Smith and Manoj Tiwary got out to Chris Woakes without scoring in double digits. Ben Stokes tried to stitch a partnership with him but got out when they needed 25 from 39 balls. His wicket put pressure on RPS side.
Rahul Tripathi Is A Player To Watchout for And Groom. He Could Be Our New Sehwag. He Has That Fire.#RPSvKKR #KKRvRPS #IPL #Tripathi #IPL10 pic.twitter.com/d9sPrNj0Iu
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) May 3, 2017
Great win by Pune tonight. What an absolute star Tripathi is #playerforthefuture #gun https://t.co/tkMYtIaT4h
— Steve Smith (@stevesmith49) May 3, 2017
Wonderful, memorable innings from Rahul Tripathi. Hopefully, here to stay.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 3, 2017
Rahul Tripathi is the find of the season & this despite some really good performances frm Nitish Rana & Rashid. Amazing self belief#KKRvRPS
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 3, 2017
MS Dhoni too got out without getting his score into double digits. It seemed like KKR will make a comeback in the match as they restricted boundaries and even the singles for the new batsmen. But Tripathi released the pressure as he struck a maximum off Kuldeep Yadav and increasing the difference between balls and runs needed to win.
Wow Tripathi brilliant again #KKRvRPS
— Ajit Agarkar (@imAagarkar) May 3, 2017
Seriously impressed by Rahul Tripathi. Where was he hiding all these days! Now to convert these blazing starts to something more substantial
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 3, 2017
Great win tonight, Tripathi brilliant!! Re the shirt mix up, both mine and Stokesy’s shirts were drying out and I grabbed the wrong one!
— Daniel Christian (@danchristian54) May 3, 2017
Tripathi could not get to his century as he got out with Daniel Christian ending the game with a maximum but his innings was no less than Stokes’ century in the previous game.
Dear Rahul Tripathi,
I have already become a huge fan of your batting! And your voice is so sweet Keep smiling! Well played!#KKRvRPS— Smriti Sinha (@smritisinha99) May 3, 2017
Great thing about #RPS – a new hero every game -Tripathi, Stokes, Smith, Tahir. Peaking at the right time.
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) May 3, 2017
Well played Rahul tripathi treat to watch brother #IPLT20
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) May 3, 2017
The Twitterati were in awe of the young batsmen making a name for himself without even playing an adequate among of First-Class cricket. His performance has solved RPS’ dilemma of who to open the innings with. He does not just slog the ball for boundaries but times it with perfection finding the boundaries with ease.
