Rahul Tripathi has been scoring runs effortlessly for RPS in the IPL. (Source: PTI)
This IPL season hasn’t been dominated by the legends of the game or the experienced lot, it has been one for the youngsters with the inexperienced players making themselves count in the shortest format of the game. As had been the idea with the league, to give youngsters a platform to showcase their talent and then to draw youth into the sport both as players and as spectators. That has been working out thus far in IPL 10. Prominent names in this list of good performers are Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer and Basil Thampi. (Results | Fixtures | Points Table)
Another one on this list is Rising Pune Supergiant’s Rahul Tripathi. He’s scored a collective 253 runs in seven innings of the IPL with a best of 59 runs and strike rate of a shade over 150. Tripathi is the second highest scorer for RPS in the current IPL with Steve Smith top of the charts. This despite having the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Ben Stokes in the squad who have not had the desired touch with the bat as yet.
On Saturday, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Tripathi scored a rapidfire 37 runs from 28 balls in four fours and a six to further his impressive showing.
Son of an Army colonel, the family moved to Pune after posting in Kashmir during Operation Parakram. Then he enrolled at Deccan Gymkhana – club for which he still plays.
Not a household name, for now, the 26-year-old, born in Ranchi, hasn’t been a nightmare for bowlers in T20 matches. He’s got just 384 runs from 19 matches with 59, in the IPL, being his best. It also added to the local element and matter of pride that a Pune-lad is doing well for the Pune IPL team.
His scores of 10, 33, 31, 59, 45 and 38 have been key in helping RPS in hopes of playoff progression. His 45 most prominently helped RPS break MI’s run of six straight wins. It remains to be seen how his career graph progresses from here but based on early impression, he’s destined for national colours.
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