Rahul Tripathi made his T20 International debut against Sri Lanka in the 3-match series finale at Rajkot, where he played a brilliant inning of 35 off 16. The match victory was highly credited to the smacking century of Suryakumar Yadav. Still, the attacking intent of Rahul Tripathi cannot be ignored, as he gave Team India the right pace in the powerplay.
Now, if we consider his performance in the series finals and the ease with which he played off the bowlers of Sri Lanka, there is no doubt that Tripathi has some real potential and capabilities to play at the top batting order.
An alternative for the opening batsmen
Ishaan Kishan and Shubman Gill, the opening batsmen, gave a slow start to the innings, and Rahul Tripathi entered the arena at No. 3 after Ishaan Kishan lost his wicket. Tripathi took an attacking approach against the Lankan bowlers with five 4s and two 6s in his brief innings of 16 balls. It looked like he knew how to manage the bowlers and hit beautiful shots out of it.
The Indian team has had a slower run-making pace in power play leading to missing some crucial matches. The defeat of the Indian Cricket team in the semi-finals of the T20I World Cup is owed to this struggle to make runs in the power play. In such a case, someone like Tripathi, who has an aggressive batting tendency, can be the right pick to open for India and score for the team in power play in T20 matches.
Suryakumar Yadav & Rahul Tripathi: A combination we did not know we needed
Suryakumar Yadav is, hands down, the best Indian Cricket team has right now, and he is justifying it well. However, at times, the batting lineup lacks a backup, sheer support, or partnership to his calibre. Rahul Tripathi is a batsman of similar nature, and together they will complement each other well. A batting partnership of these two Indian gems would be worth a wait and worth a watch!