IPL 2022: I had fun, says Hyderabad’s star Rahul Tripathi as he hurts former franchise

After not being retained by the Kolkata franchise in the Indian T20 League, Rahul Tripathi was purchased for 8.50 Cr in the auctions by the Hyderabad franchise. In Friday’s match against Kolkata he rose above all and played a stupendous knock of 71 runs off 37 balls. Tripathi’s superlative performance paved the way for the Hyderabad franchise to get a comprehensive seven wicket  win over the Knights in just 17.5 overs.

In the match winning innings at the Brabourne stadium, Tripathi timed his innings to perfection and chose bowlers like Aman Khan and Varun Chakravarthy to open his arms. He was in all smiles at the post match press conference where he expressed his thoughts on his destructive innings. He stated; “I had fun. Russell bangs in shorts, and I was looking for the pull if he bowled short. Varun bowls well and I didn’t expect him to bowl up…so I thought of putting him under pressure.”

On being a freshie in the Hyderabad camp, Tripathi said; “It has been special with both the Kolkata and Hyderabad franchises. The first few games have gone well. I have struggled with my health in the past week, but they (Hyderabad franchise) have supported me.” Tripathi also bagged the ‘Man of the Match’ Award for his fabulous innings to guide Hyderabad to their season’s third win. Later he said, he is happy with his innings’ performance. He enjoyed recovering a lot from his tough days.

Also after the game, Kolkata's head coach Brendon McCullum was seen interacting with the ex Kolkata star. After a long conversation, McCullum hugged Tripathi and that was quite a heartwarming gesture for the fans of both sides.