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Rahul Tripathi was surprisingly missing from India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against the West Indies. The BCCI has announced a squad of mainly IPL stars for five T20Is against the men in Maroon. Hardik Pandya will captain the team, while the likes of Tilak Varma, Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal are all set to make their T20I debuts.
While the addition of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma to the T20I squad is welcome, it is baffling to understand why Rahul Tripathi did not get a place in the squad. Not long ago, Tripathi was marked as an intent player who would play a great stroke in the higher order.
However, Tripathi will not be on the flight to the West Indies later this month. Here is a list of three reasons why dropping a right-handed batter is not the right move.
#1 Rahul Tripathi has performed decently in the five matches he has played for India
Tripathi made his T20I debut earlier this year in a match against Sri Lanka at the Maharashtra Cricket Ground. The right-handed batsman has played five T20Is up to 1 February, scoring 97 runs. While he averaged less than 20, his strike rate was around 145.
Most notably, he bowled an impactful 44 runs from 22 deliveries in his last T20I, which was his highest score in five innings. However, he did not earn a place in India’s T20I squad for the West Indies tour.
Tripathi has the ability to change the momentum of the game by hitting big shots right from the word ‘Go’. Preparing him for next year’s T20 World Cup could have been a good move if the team’s management had really looked beyond the top players.
#2 IPL 2023 was not fully considered for team selection
If the team is selected based on IPL 2023, it would be fair to ignore Rahul Tripathi. The right-handed batsman had a regular season with Sunrisers Hyderabad this year, scoring 273 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of less than 130.
However, the selection of the T20I team is not based solely on IPL 2023. Missing out are the likes of Rinku Singh and Akash Madhwal, who both impressed in the IPL, while two players who were not regular members of their IPL playing XI have been named in the T20I squad.
#3 Team management could have tried him in another batting position before dropping him
If the team management wanted to try another player in the third position, they could have moved Rahul Tripathi to another position instead of removing him from the team immediately.
Rahul Tripathi batted from opening to eighth in his IPL career and has a decent record in almost every position. Perhaps the role of designer could be assigned to him.
India will play a lot of T20I matches before next year’s T20 World Cup. It will be interesting to see if Rahul Tripathi is called up to the squad.
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