Rahul Ajay Tripathi (born 2 March 1991) is an Indian international
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
er who made his debut for
Indian cricket team
The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the Internationa ...
in January 2023 against Sri Lanka. He also plays for
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...
in domestic cricket and
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad (stylised as SunRisers Hyderabad, SRH) are a franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the SUN Group and was ...
in the
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as Tata Group, TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 cricket, T20 Professional sports league organization, franchise cricket Sports league, league of India. It is annually contested by ...
(IPL).
Personal life
Rahul Ajay Tripathi, born on 2 March 1991 in
Ranchi
Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...
,
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...
, is an Indian cricketer and the son of former Army Colonel Ajay Tripathi and Suchitra Tripathi, a housewife. His father, was also a former cricketer who played for the
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
under-22 side in the early 80s.
Growing up in a military family, Rahul faced frequent relocations. His cricket training, initiated at age 9, in
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...
, was temporarily halted when his father was assigned to Srinagar as part of
Operation Parakram. The challenging conditions forced Rahul to take a hiatus from cricket at the age of 10.
Upon relocating to Pune in 2003, Rahul's cricket journey resumed under his father's guidance. Enrolled in Pune's Deccan Gymkhana on 20 September 2003, he trained under the mentorship of Kedar Joglekar and Hemant Athalye, establishing this as his cricket alma mater. Achieving notable success in junior cricket, he garnered attention with three consecutive centuries at the U-19 level.
Rahul earned the
BCCI award for Best U-25 Cricketer in 2014, paving the way for his rise in first-class cricket and subsequently the
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as Tata Group, TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 cricket, T20 Professional sports league organization, franchise cricket Sports league, league of India. It is annually contested by ...
(IPL). Beyond cricket, he excelled academically, completing his Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Sri Parashurambhau Mahavidyalay.
Notably, Rahul hails from a talented sporting family, with his younger sister Rupali Tripathi representing
Maharashtra in Basketball.
Domestic career
He was the leading run-scorer for Maharashtra in the
2018–19 Ranji Trophy
The 2018–19 Ranji Trophy was the 85th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between November 2018 and February 2019. Vidarbha were the defending champions. The final took place between ...
, with 504 runs in eight matches.
In February 2017, he was bought by the
Rising Pune Supergiants team for the
2017 Indian Premier League
The 2017 season of the Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 10 and branded as Vivo IPL 2017, was the tenth edition of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the BCCI in 2007. The tournament featured the eight teams ...
(IPL).
In January 2018, he was bought by the
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals (often abbreviated as RR) are a franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight IPL franchises, the team is based at the Sawai ...
in the
2018 IPL auction.
He was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the
2020 IPL auction. In the
2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...
ahead of the
2020 Indian Premier League
The 2020 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 13 and branded as Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020, was the thirteenth season of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket (T20) league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India ...
.
In February 2022, he was bought by the
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad (stylised as SunRisers Hyderabad, SRH) are a franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the SUN Group and was ...
in the
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...
for the
2022 Indian Premier League tournament.
International career
In June 2022, he was named in India's
Twenty20 International
A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...
(T20I) squad for their two-match series
against Ireland. The following month, he was named in India's
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...
(ODI) squad for their series
against Zimbabwe. In December 2022, Tripathi was selected to play for India in the
T20I series against Sri Lanka. The following month, on 5 January 2023, Tripathi made his Twenty20 International debut for India at the age of 31 against
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in the second match of the series at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, he was dismissed for 5 runs in his debut innings.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripathi, Rahul
1991 births
Living people
Indian cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
Maharashtra cricketers
People from Ranchi
Cricketers from Jharkhand
Rising Pune Supergiant cricketers
Rajasthan Royals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketers
Asian Games medalists in cricket
Cricketers at the 2022 Asian Games
Asian Games gold medalists for India
Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games