OPINION
Follow UsMona Lisa is quite simplistic and yet, it is one of the most important paintings in the history of Art. Leonardo da Vinci, the painter behind the masterpiece is considered as a truly skilled artist for marrying simplicity with complex thoughts.
Back in 2017, a 26-year-old smiling cricketer from Maharashtra made his debut for the Rising Pune Supergiant. Having finished last, there wasn’t any sort of expectations from the franchise to do well. But that gave Rahul Tripathi enough determination to prove his worth.
Like Mona Lisa, he was simple yet his game was complex, he could access areas in the field that the others could only ponder and desire. Tripathi played a brand of cricket that was not very common in Indian cricket – fearless.
But you combine fearlessness with solid technique, you would find the right-hander at the top of the list. He first did it with the Supergiant, then showed a glimpse of consistency with the Royals before putting his name on the top of the list with Kolkata Knight Riders, this time in a different role.
Tripathi was just built different.
Put in at No.3, he came away with 397 runs, averaging 28.35 while still striking at 140.28. Throughout his year with the Knight Riders, there was always constant pressure on him considering the make-up of the side. The demand was almost unreal, he was the man to arrest a collapse, he was the man for taking on the spinners, he was the man to accelerate for the Knight Riders.
Elsewhere, despite scoring over 11,000 runs in the First-Class scene, Amol Muzumdar was unlucky not to get an Indian cap. The reason we are mentioning Muzumdar is that Tripathi finds himself in a similar position.
Given that the T20 World Cup is around the corner, it is almost unrealistic for Tripathi to find himself a place in the squad. But season after season, his goal has always been the same: to serve the selectors a timely reminder. When SRH beat CSK’s bid to acquire Tripathi, there was a visible smile on the Sunrisers’ table.
They knew what they were getting.
Tripathi isn’t threatening. At least, the first look as a spectator, he looks like a cricketer who would go about his business in silence. As an opposition, you know what he is capable of, yet you don’t put him on the same page of destruction as the likes of Andre Russell, Ravindra Jadeja and Kieron Pollard.
But the 31-year-old is no different. He is menacing, he is threatening and more importantly, he is destructive as hell. And if his knock against CSK was just a trailer, his knock against KKR shows exactly why he is one amongst the top tier in Indian cricket.
If Suryakumar Yadav showed his skills against the best of spinners in the IPL, Tripathi is not far behind. In each of his knocks, the right-hander has always been fearless in his approach against the tweakers, often taking on the challenge and succeeding at it.
When all eyes were on Kane Williamson in his battle against Pat Cummins, it was Tripathi who got all the attention. In the most free-flowing of fashions, the right-hander lofted one over the covers and effortlessly walked back to his crease. He headed back, twisted himself and once again was ready to take on Cummins for the second ball in a row. That’s Rahul Tripathi!
That wasn’t it. It was barely it. Andre Russell was breathing fire, he had just dismissed Williamson and Tripathi was next on his list. But the short-ball he attempted travelled at a speed faster than it was delivered, showing how the Tripathi was always a step ahead of the bowlers.
His impact on the game was multi-fold, as it has always been the case with Tripathi. Kolkata Knight Riders still hadn’t unleased two of their best bowlers – Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine – and the right-hander was always read for the challenge.
He had style, substance and class and if you are going to question that, the over against Chakravarthy will be the proof. In just three deliveries, he won Twitter over, he won the Sunrisers fans over and arguably should have somewhere won the selectors over as well. Three exquisite shots over the cover region for 16 runs was just a proof of how Tripathi plays cricket.
When he was dismissed by Russell, his reaction actually depicts him the best, he is a batter that is always looking to optimize on his potentials and reap maximum rewards. He was distraught that he couldn’t put the Windies all-rounder’s delivery into the stands.
In many ways, more than one, Tripathi will always be a reminder of why people take up cricket: for the smile on their face.
“There are days when things get tough, but I enjoy the hard work and the good days. Before going in to bat, I am a little fidgety, but I am happy that I got this innings today,” said Tripathi after winning the Player of the Match.
India already have an overcrowded middle-order in the shortest format but year after year, Tripathi is just proving to be the answer to all of India’s conundrum. It is only a good headache for the selectors, considering India’s fortunes at the global level in the shortest format.