Simon Doull, a former New Zealand cricketer, commented on Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Rahul Tripathi’s inability to maintain a high strike rate in the current Indian Premier League season. Doull believes that Rahul Tripathi’s concern over his position in the playing XI has led to his decline and emphasized that Tripathi should not waste deliveries, particularly during powerplay overs. These remarks were made after SRH’s seven-run loss to Delhi Capitals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 24th. He said:
“The only time he has got a good strike rate was that 74*. Every other time that he has batted 10 balls or more, he has been less than a run-a-ball. Whether that’s a problem for him and he is worried about his spot on the side, he shouldn’t be.
“He is good enough to be in that side all day at number three. He cannot be chewing up deliveries, not at number three inside the powerplay.”
‘Rahul Tripathi should have aimed to score quickly’
Hyderabad’s batting faltered against Delhi, ending at 137/6 in 20 overs while pursuing a target of 145 runs. Rahul Tripathi had a difficult time in the match, managing only 15 runs from 21 balls. Doull also mentioned that either Mayank Agarwal or Tripathi should have aimed to score quickly during the middle overs, stating:
“Either Mayank Agarwal or Rahul Tripathi had to up the ante a little. The run rate pressure was just starting to squeeze. What that means is that when every new batter comes in, it’s difficult to start. When you try and start quickly, you lose your wickets.
“They had three batters going at strike rates good enough to win the game. Mayank was 125, so it was kind of okay, but Klaasen at 163 and Washinton Sundar at 160. When you’ve got three batters going at better than the rate required, it just shows you that the in-betweens were not good enough.”
SRH made a mistake by slotting Abhishek at No. 4: Simon Doull
According to Simon Doull, SRH made a mistake by having Abhishek Sharma bat at the No. 4 position during their chase against DC. He emphasized that Sharma should either open the innings or come in at the lower middle order. The 53-year-old also stated that SRH has better middle-order options in Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram. He explained:
“Abhishek Sharma, to me, either opens the batting or he bats around Washinton Sundar’s number. He doesn’t bat in that middle order because I don’t think that’s his role. He comes in at the end and whacks it because he can do that; he’s got big boy power and good long levers.
“He either opens the batting and gets the strike rate, or he bats at number seven. I don’t think he bats at three, four, five or six and nudges the strike rate. Not when you’ve got international quality in Markram and Klaasen.”