"It would be less however much you might praise him" - Sanjay Bangar lauds Rahul Tripathi

Sanjay Bangar feels Rahul Tripathi is fully justifying the role given to him in T20I cricket and that no praise is enough for the Maharashtra batter.

Tripathi smoked 44 runs off just 22 balls as India set a mammoth 235-run target for New Zealand in the third and final T20I in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 1. Hardik Pandya and Co. then bowled out the Kiwis for a paltry 66 to register a comprehensive 168-run win in the series decider.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Bangar was asked about his thoughts on Rahul Tripathi's knock and his dismissal, to which he responded:

"It was an unfortunate way to get out. Rahul Tripathi knew that he was playing an amazing knock and was in an exceptional rhythm as well but got out unfortunately. It would be less however much you might praise him. He is fully justifying the role the Indian team have given to him."

The former Indian batting coach reckons a premeditated shot led to the SunRisers Hyderabad batter's downfall, explaining:

"If you see where he scored his runs, he hit a six over the fine leg fielder and hit three fours as well when the short fine leg was placed. He probably sat down beforehand itself to find that area. If he had played the pull shot, it might have gone between the square leg and mid-wicket fielder."

Tripathi walked out to bat when India lost Ishan Kishan's wicket in the second over with just seven runs on the board. He added 80 runs with Shubman Gill for the second wicket in seven overs which swung the momentum of the game in the hosts' favor.

---

"You need to praise Rahul Tripathi" - Mohammad Kaif

Rahul Tripathi fell prey to Ish Sodhi for the second consecutive game. [P/C: BCCI]

Mohammad Kaif was also all praise for Tripathi, saying:

"You need to praise Rahul Tripathi. He has a lot of experience, scored a lot of runs in domestic cricket and got a chance to make his debut after such a long time. The knock was short but it was aggressive."

The former Indian batter pointed out that Tripathi was disappointed as he got out to a delivery that deserved to be punished, elaborating:

"Sodhi always gets wickets. He dismissed him in the last match as well. It was a similar shot but the ball was fuller there, he had tried to play a sweep shot in Lucknow. Here also he got out but it was a bad ball. Tripathi was disappointed there, he knew that he lost his wicket to a bad ball but he played very well."

Tripathi struck four fours and three sixes during his innings. He pulled Ish Sodhi straight down Lockie Ferguson's throat at deep square leg while trying to reach his maiden half-century with a maximum.