Rahul Tripathi is an Indian cricketer, born on 2nd March 1991 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Tripathi is primarily a right-handed middle order batsman but has been used as an opener due to his ability to hit sixes. He can also bowl right-arm medium pace deliveries.
Tripathi made his debut in the Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra in the 2012-13 season. Being known as a technically correct batsman, the transition was not very smooth for Tripathi as he struggled to remain in the side and scored only 185 runs in 11 innings in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy.
After bagging a contract in the IPL, Tripathi’s first innings of note came in the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy when he made a 44-ball 57 against Uttar Pradesh in a losing cause.
In the quarter-final against Bengal, he struck a 74-ball 95 to further his cause. He hit four sixes in the innings to help Maharashtra post a score above 300. However, his bowlers had an off day as Maharashtra bowed out of the tournament. He was the leading run-scorer for Maharashtra in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy, with 504 runs in eight matches
Ahead of the 2017 season, Tripathi was picked up by Rising Pune Supergiant for INR 10 lakh. He made his IPL debut against Delhi Daredevils at the MCA International Stadium in Pune on 9th March 2017. He scored 10 runs off 5 balls as his team suffered a miserable defeat. Tripathi was promoted to open the innings in the next match against Gujarat Lions and made a quick 33 off 17 balls. He was retained to open the innings for the remainder of the tournament.
After a couple of scores in the 30’s, Tripathi first came in the headlines of the IPL when he made 59 off 41 deliveries to help Rising Pune Supergiant to a comfortable victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad at Pune. His performance in the IPL would be defined by a knock he played against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata. Chasing 156 for victory, Tripathi lit up the Eden Gardens with a 52-ball 93 hitting 78 of those runs in boundaries as he orchestrated a successful run chase.
After playing for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 Indian Premier League, Tripathi was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 3.4 crores. However, he was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2020 IPL auction after playing only 8 matches where he scored 141 runs. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 60 lakhs.
Tripathi came from a sporting background as his father had featured in the junior Uttar Pradesh cricket team and had also played in university cricket. When Tripathi senior who worked in the army got transferred to Pune, he ensured his son honed his skills at one of the most established and oldest academy ground – the Deccan Gymkhana.
