The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) advanced to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 thanks to Rahul Tripathi’s six off Ravichandran Ashwin’s penultimate ball. The 30-year-old batter had faith in himself and knew he was only one hit away from achieving greatness.
In the IPL Qualifier 2 in Sharjah, KKR had to chase down 136 runs from the Delhi Capitals (DC). They put on a 96-run opening stand, then lost six wickets for seven runs in 22 balls, allowing their opponents to get back into the game. Rahul Tripathi was six of ten before the penultimate ball. Meanwhile, Ashwin had picked up two wickets and only given up a runoff his four balls in that over.
“The win for the team was very important. There were one or two tough overs, but I never thought it would go so deep in the end. I am glad we won the game.” Rahul Tripathi said
“That was the plan (farming the strike for the final two deliveries?), but if we could find a small gap for a possible two, we were going to run. I was going to come back for the second, but we were running only if there were two. It was difficult upon going in straightaway – the ball was keeping low and was difficult to put away. I kept believing in myself that we are just one hit away.” he added
With 395 runs at an average of 30.4, striking at 141.1, Rahul Tripathi has been KKR’s greatest batter in the IPL 2021.
Eoin Morgan
In the IPL 2021, Rahul Tripathi summed up KKR’s fantastic journey. Captain Eoin Morgan and coach Brendon McCullum, he said, took a constructive attitude with the players. This allowed the team to come back stronger in the second phase in the United Arab Emirates.
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