Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir lauded Rahul Tripathi’s attacking approach in the third T20I against Sri Lanka at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on Saturday. Tripathi, who was playing his second T20I, scored an impressive knock of 35 runs off just 16 balls against the visitors.
The right-hander from Maharashtra scored five fours and two sixes and scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 218.75. The 31-year-old was able to hit the ground running and took the attack to the opposition after India lost the early wicket of Ishan Kishan in the first over.
Tripathi is well known to play selflessly and he is always going to score his runs at a brisk pace.
Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports, “If you talk about Rahul Tripathi, he is a player who has batted at every number for his franchise and state. He can open, play at No. 3 or in the middle order, but his approach remains the same whether he plays against the new ball or in the middle order. You want to see players like him.”
Gambhir feels Tripathi would have been disappointed with the way he got out against Chamika Karunaratne.
“Chamika Karunaratne did not bowl too many bad deliveries but it was Rahul Tripathi’s quality because of which he proved that expensive. The way Tripathi lost his wicket, he will be disappointed. The third man was up, if he had slashed hard, the ball might have gone above the third man but he just guided the ball like you give catches in the slips.”
On the other hand, former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar gave full marks to Rahul Tripathi for his temperament.
“10 out of 10 for temperament because he knew that it was a very important innings. When you come into the team as a young batter, you know that you need to make an impact in two or three innings, so that the selectors and team management have confidence in you.”
“He played fearlessly, played for the team. India had lost the first wicket early – Ishan Kishan had gotten out – but still the shots he played against Theekshana, especially the three boundaries he hit, it shows how he thinks and he wanted to use the powerplay. The new attacking approach was spoken about a lot but he showed that by doing it.”
The first ODI will be played at Guwahati on Tuesday.
