Rahul Tripathi promised a lot when he smashed a quickfire 35 against Sri Lanka in his second T20I. On the back of that, he got the crucial No.3 position to bat against New Zealand as India had decided to rest Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. But he would be the first one to admit that he wasted a couple of golden opportunities against New Zealand. Yes, the pitches in Ranchi and Lucknow weren't conducive to strokeplay as they assisted the spinners a lot but the kind of strokes he played was not up to the mark.
Tripathi had all of this in mind or so it appeared when he walked out to bat in the series-deciding third and final T20I in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The right-hander, who walked in at the fall of Ishan Kishan's wicket in the second over of the match, took a little time to settle in but once he realised that this pitch is vastly different from the previous two T20Is, he wasted no time whatsoever to bring his attacking game into play.
INDIA VS NEW ZEALAND HIGHLIGHTS 3rd T20I
He made room to hit the ball over point. He walked across his stumps to smash the ball toward the on-side. He danced down the track and played the sweep shot against Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner. He spared no one. The Maharashtra batter, however, reserved his best against New Zealand's fastest bowler Lockie Ferguson.
In the second ball of the 6th over, Tripathi picked Ferguson's slower one early to hit it over point for a boundary. In the next ball, Ferguson went back to his stock delivery, which is fast and aimed at the stumps. But Tripathi was a step ahead. He walked across his stumps and scooped the 149 km/h delivery over fine leg for a six.
Watch Video: Rahul Tripathi hits Lockie Ferguson's 149 km/h delivery for a six
{{/usCountry}}In the second ball of the 6th over, Tripathi picked Ferguson's slower one early to hit it over point for a boundary. In the next ball, Ferguson went back to his stock delivery, which is fast and aimed at the stumps. But Tripathi was a step ahead. He walked across his stumps and scooped the 149 km/h delivery over fine leg for a six.
Watch Video: Rahul Tripathi hits Lockie Ferguson's 149 km/h delivery for a six
{{/usCountry}}Tripathi then hit a few boundaries against New Zealand spinners Santer and Sodhi but just when he was looking set for his maiden international half-century, he pulled it straight to the deep mid-wicket fielder.
Anguish was written all over his face when he was walking back to the pavilion after scoring 44 off 22 balls.
Earlier, India captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first with the series on the line. India brought in pacer Umran Malik in place of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal while New Zealand handed debut to left-arm pacer Ben Lister.