“Should have been batting in New Zealand” – Twitter slams selectors as Rahul Tripathi scores ton in Vijay Hazare Trophy

On Thursday, Maharashtra batter Rahul Tripathi smashed a scintillating century against Mumbai in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022. The right-handed batter has been in fine form lately and has been constantly knocking on the doors for the national selection.

Rahul Tripathi earned his maiden national call-up for the T20I series on the Ireland tour. Following that, he was also selected for the ODIs in Zimbabwe and the home ODI series against South Africa. However, the right-handed batter failed to break into the playing XI during all three series and he is yet to make his debut for India.

Tripathi has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League as well. In fact, Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained the batter ahead of the mini-auctions for the IPL 2023. Many were hoping that Rahul Tripathi will get his due on the New Zealand tour as the national selectors have picked a second-string side filled with youngsters.

However, the 31-year-old once again got unlucky as he could not find his name in T20I or ODI squad despite not getting any games in the previous series. Now, he has responded to the selection snub in some style by smashing a wonderful ton against a strong bowling attack of Mumbai.

Rahul Tripathi answers the selectors by smashing a ton

Mumbai and Maharashtra locked horns in the Vijay Hazare Trophy game at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi on Thursday. Maharashtra opted to bat first after winning the toss and Rahul Tripathi made the most of it. Opening the batting, the right-handed batter carried the bat and played a whirlwind knock of unbeaten 156 runs off 137 deliveries. He also smashed 18 boundaries and 2 maximums in the process.

Also Read: NZ vs IND 2022: Predicting India’s playing XI in first T20I against New Zealand

Rahul Tripathi helped his side post a massive total of 342/2 in 50 overs. Twitter was impressed with his batting as the fans criticized the BCCI for not selecting him for the New Zealand tour.

Check out the best of the reactions here:

Rahul Tripathi smashed 156* runs from 137 balls against Mumbai in Vijay Hazare 2022.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 17, 2022

Injustice with Rahul Tripathi , he should in NZ at this moment…Poor guy still proving in domestic circuit

— Bipin (@TwittBk_) November 17, 2022

Prithvi Shaw, Ishan kishan, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Shubhman Gill and many more young faces should be included in the T20 and ODI team squad and should give them opportunity to play in white ball cricket#TeamIndia @cricketaakash @IrfanPathan #IPL2023@BCCI

— Ram ji (Him/His) (@akshayg72763636) November 16, 2022

https://twitter.com/vikshi1311/status/1593133488534073344

https://twitter.com/Sportify07/status/1593136598501429248

https://twitter.com/viratesque_18/status/1593152943922241536

Rahul tripathi should be given more chances in Indian T20 team…he has great intent plus he can bat anywhere…#indiancricket #T20Iworldcup2022 #rahultripathi #Cricket

— gurdev singh (@lostb_ird5) November 17, 2022

https://twitter.com/ZubairAhm6648/status/1593160894602948614

@YaariSports why Rahul tripathi is not in newzeland we have 3 wk do we play them all alsonwe need at least one bowling option from top 4

— amit_1711 (@amitkumar140784) November 17, 2022

Highest individual scores for Maharashtra in men's List-A cricket :-

168 – Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Chandigarh, 2021
156* – Rahul Tripathi vs Mumbai, today
154* – Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Chattisgarh, 2021#VijayHazareTrophy

— Rhitankar Bandyopadhyay (@rhitankar8616) November 17, 2022

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