Rahul Tripathi gets maiden India call-up, former cricketers congratulate youngster

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 17-member squad for the two-match T20I series against Ireland on Wednesday. Minutes after the names were released, social media users expressed their excitement as BCCI handed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batsman Rahul Tripathi his maiden international call-up for the Ireland T20 series which will begin on 26 June. Tripathi was picked due to his stunning performances in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. He grabbed the limelight after scoring a personal-best of 413 runs at an average of 37.55 in the 14 matches that he played. Interestingly, the 31-year-old right-hand batter’s strike rate of 158.24 was among the best among top-order batters. Taking to Twitter, BCCI shared a series of tweets wherein the list of names were released. Check the tweets here:  

All-rounder Hardik Pandya was picked as the captain of the side, while bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was selected as his deputy. The Team India squad saw the return of  Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav. Following Tripathi’s selection to the Indian Team, former cricketers took to their social media handles and congratulated the young star. Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop expressed delight over Tripathi’s selection. He called it ‘well deserved’.  

Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan congratulated the young player and expressed excitement to see his name on the list.  

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel also congratulated Tripathi for his selection.  

Few more reactions here:  

In 2017, Tripathi grabbed attention when he scored runs for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant. He also proved himself by performing well for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and SRH in the IPL. Apart from the cash-rich league, Tripathi has been outstanding for his state team - Maharashtra too. He has also captained his state team in domestic cricket. Team India will face Ireland on 26 and 28 June 2022 at The Village in Dublin. India’s squad for Ireland tour: Hardik Pandya (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer,  Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, and Umran Malik.