The young Indian batter, Rahul Tripathi has revealed that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni encouraged him in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 after he was struggling to score runs and in running between the wickets. He also recalled his IPL debut under leadership of Dhoni and said that the captain advised him to play the way he does in nets.

In the IPL 2022 mega-auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bought Rahul Tripathi for ₹8.50 Crores beating CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after an intense bidding war. Rahul Tripathi played for KKR in the 2021 edition and he played a crucial role for them. He has amassed  397 runs in 17 matches for the franchise including two half-centuries. He was a major reason for KKR’s success helping them reach the finals last season. Tripathi shared an incident from the final revealing how Dhoni encouraged him.

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During a recent interview with News18, Rahul Tripathi said, “I couldn’t score runs, I was really struggling to run between the wickets. After I got out, Mahi bhai tapped on my back and said: “Koi nai, aj tumhara day nahi tha, But tune hundred percent try kiya”(It wasn’t your day, but you gave your hundred percent). I was feeling very down since we lost the final, but Mahi bhai came after the game also and spoke to me for a minute or so.”

The right-handed batsman started playing in the IPL with Rising Pune Supergiants in 2017 under the captaincy of Dhoni. He then represented Rajasthan Royals (RR) and then was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He recalled his IPL debut and stated that Dhoni advised him to play like he does in nets.

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Recalling the same, Rahul Tripathi said, “I still remember when I was on my IPL debut, he (Dhoni) came and said, “jaise nets me khel rahe ho, bilkul waise hi khelo” (Play as you play in nets). He treats every player as his younger brother. Sometimes he scolded me as well. ‘Push hard….do this’. Like when I was playing for Rajasthan Royals and KKR, I used to consult him whenever I got time. “Kya kar rahe ho,”(What are you doing these days) he always used to ask me.”