Team India cricketer and new CSK recruit Rahul Tripathi in his recent appearance at the ‘House of Glory’ podcast, an initiative by the Gagan Narang Sports Foundation, revealed how former India captain MS Dhoni’s advice helped him ahead of his IPL debut, back in 2017. Tripathi will be Dhoni’s teammate in the upcoming IPL 2025 season after Chennai Super Kings bought him for Rs 3.4 crore at the mega auction last year.
Tripathi made his IPL debut during the tenth season of the league, where he was a part of the Rising Pune Supergiants, along with Dhoni. Ahead of his first match for the franchise, the former India and CSK captain helped Tripathi in calming down his nerves.
“Two days before I was going to play my first match, I was observing him in the dressing room. He called me and told me not to try or think anything extra and asked me to play the way I was playing while training. Given that this advice came from a cricketer of that stature and the fact that I was going to play my debut match, it gave me a lot of confidence. It really calmed my nerves,” Tripathi said.
“I am blessed to have gotten the time to spend with him. It’s a dream of many people in the cricket world to share cricketing experiences with him and play alongside him. And by being with him, I have seen that he keeps it simple,” he added.
After a long wait, Rahul finally made his International debut for India during the T201 series against Sri Lanka in January 2023, at the age of 31. Recalling the testing times, the top-order batter revealed how he remained positive while waiting for his opportunity to play for India.
“I never gave up. At times, it was tough and it felt that the dream to represent India was quite far away. But I decided to keep trying and always believed that one day I would get the opportunity I was waiting for. And I feel this belief was one of the reasons why I finally received the opportunity,” said Tripathi.
“It was a very emotional moment. After traveling with the team for 6-7 hours, I was finally able to make my T20I debut. Coincidentally, I made my debut at my home ground in Pune, where I have been playing cricket since childhood. So I think it was all written.,” he added, while recollecting the moment when he received his debut T20I cap.
Tripathi has managed to scored 2236 runs from 95 IPL matches till date at a strike-rate of 139.31 with 12 fifties. Apart from his hard work and patience, Rahul credited his success to the former Indian cricketer and the batting coach of the Indian team, Abhishek Nayar.
Sharing the experience of working with Nayar in Kolkata Knight Riders camp, Tripathi said, “I think the biggest and most important contribution in my journey has been made by Abhishek Nayar. I consider him my elder brother. Meeting him was the changing point of my life. We played together in BPCL for a year but when I joined KKR, it was a different experience with Dinesh Karthik also being there. I really enjoyed my time there. I call him Abhi dada and I feel it’s because of his contribution that I was able to fulfill my dream to play for India.”
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