Rahul Tripathi is an Indian cricketer who was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on March 2, 1991. Tripathi is mainly a right-handed middle order batsman, but his potential to score sixes has seen him used as an opener. He can also bowl medium-pace right-arm deliveries.
Career
Domestic Career
In the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy season, Tripathi made his debut for Maharashtra. Tripathi, who is known for being a technically sound batsman, failed to stay in the team and scored just 185 runs in 11 innings in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy.
Tripathi’s first notable innings came in the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy, when he made a 44-ball 57 against Uttar Pradesh in a losing cause after signing an IPL deal.
He hit a 74-ball 95 in the quarter-final against Bengal to support his cause. In the innings, he hit four sixes to help Maharashtra reach 300 runs. His bowlers, on the other hand, had a poor day, and Maharashtra was disqualified from the tournament. With 504 runs in eight matches, he was Maharashtra’s top run-scorer in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy.
IPL Career
Tripathi was signed by Rising Pune Supergiant for INR 10 lakh ahead of the 2017 season. On March 9, 2017, he made his IPL debut against the Delhi Daredevils at the MCA International Stadium in Pune. As his team faced a crushing loss, he scored 10 runs off 5 hits. In the next match, against Gujarat Lions, Tripathi was promoted to open the innings and made a fast 33 off 17 balls. For the rest of the tournament, he was held to open the innings.
Tripathi first made the IPL headlines when he scored 59 off 41 deliveries to lead Rising Pune Supergiant to a comfortable victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune. A knock he played against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata will characterise his IPL success. As he engineered a fruitful run chase, Tripathi lit up the Eden Gardens with a 52-ball 93, reaching 78 of those runs in boundaries.
Tripathi was purchased by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 3.4 crores after playing for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 Indian Premier League. However, after just 8 matches in which he scored 141 runs, he was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2020 IPL auction. The Kolkata Knight Riders paid Rs 60 lakhs for him in the 2020 IPL auction.
Background
Tripathi comes from a sports family; his father was a member of the Uttar Pradesh junior cricket team and also played university cricket. When Tripathi senior, an army officer, was transferred to Pune, he made sure his son honed his skills at the Deccan Gymkhana, one of the most developed and oldest academy grounds in the city.