NEWS
Follow UsSupreme self-confidence and ability to hit conventional shots without resorting to slogging makes Rahul Tripathi tick as a batter, according former Indian women's team coach WV Raman.
Tripathi was at his free-scoring best on Friday against Kolkata Knight Riders as he clubbed six sixes and four boundaries in his 37-ball 71 to guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to a seven-wicket victory at the Brabourne Stadium.
"The most impressive thing about Tripathi is the way he bats. He walks out to bat, takes guard and starts going after the bowlers. It doesn’t matter if the bowler is bowling 140 clicks or making the ball deviate off the surface or if it’s a spinner that’s turning the ball. Nothing seems to faze him," Raman said in Cricket.com's review of the game.
Tripathi was at the heart of KKR's run into the final last season as he scored 397 runs from 16 innings at a strike rate of 140.3. From five innings in IPL 2022, the Maharashtra batter has scored 171 runs at an average of 57 and a strike rate of 178.
"His success rate is phenomenal. The important thing is it’s not about just hitting blindly. There’s a method to what he does and he plays a lot of orthodox shots as well. The way he targeted the off-side boundary was fantastic to watch. To have success, any cricketer must have self-confidence, and he seems to be having it in loads. I don’t think there’s ever going to be any dearth of self-confidence when it comes to Tripathi," he added.
Speaking the 31-year old's chances to make it to the 2022 T20 World Cup, Raman felt he can have a chance if he keeps playing match-winning knocks consistently.
"At the moment, there are quite a few batters in the queue. We saw what happened with SKY, he had to keep performing for a very long time before he got picked. I feel Tripathi has to keep replicating his performances for a long time before he gets the nod. A lot of factors will have to click into place. But he’s someone who will be thought about when they pick the side for the World Cup," Raman said.
Methodical SRH, Resurgent Natarajan
SRH have made it a pattern to start their chases in a sedate manner, before accelerating in the middle overs. After losing their first two matches of the season, they have successfully executed three chases to move to sixth in the table.
Raman felt that captain Kane Williamson's methodical approach in the Powerplay epitomizes their approach to the game.
"SRH are a side that is methodical, calculative and also composed. All these qualities are epitomized by their skipper Kane Williamson," Raman said.
"When they started their campaign, it didn’t look reassuring for their fans. But what they’ve done is have faith in their planning, they’ve had faith in the players they’ve picked and they’ve stuck to the strategy which they feel will work out fine for the combination they play," he said.
They were without injured spinner Washington Sundar, but managed to take four top-order wickets for 70 runs against KKR. Left-arm seamer T. Natarajan was at the forefront with the wickets of Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine and broke the partnership between Andre Russell and Nitish Rana.
Raman felt Natarajan's experience playing all three formats in Australia, where he made his international debut, will put him in good stead ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
"For somebody who did not play too much domestic cricket because he was coming back from injury, to come into an IPL tournament and perform like he has is something really appreciable. Natarajan is not highly experienced when it comes to international cricket, but where he scores is being confident about himself, which is something I’ve not seen in the likes of Vijay Shankar," Raman said of Natarajan, who claimed 11 wickets from five matches this season.
"Natarajan is rated very highly. He’s also a proven performer in Australia, he did well even in the Test match he played. The management is aware of what he can do and the experience he has will work in his favor," Raman said.