IND vs SA: Rahul Tripathi Is Going To Be Part Of The Indian Team In Coming Times – Aakash Chopra

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra said Rahul Tripathi will get opportunities in other bilateral series for India.

On Sunday (BCCI) announced India’s squads for the five-match T20I series against South Africa and the rescheduled final Test against England in July.

Tripathi, who scored 413 runs in 14 games in IPL 2022 at a strike rate of 158.24, was ignored by the Indian selectors.

After his magnificent 44-ball 76 against Mumbai Indians, many experts suggested Tripathi be considered for the Indian team keeping the T20 World Cup in mind.

You want to include Rahul Tripathi but you are not able to find a place: Aakash Chopra

Chopra explained it was difficult for the Maharashtra player to make the cut given the nature of the competition and the abundance of the talent the Indian team has at its disposal.

“You want to include Rahul Tripathi but you are not able to find a place. You are not able to find a place despite Rohit and Virat not being there. That’s how competitive it is,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“To be very honest, Rahul Tripathi’s name could have come in this team but the problem is that they have already picked a lot of openers – KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan – there will be two openers out of these three. After that, you have Shreyas Iyer at No. 3 and Deepak Hooda, so you have five proper batters there,” he added.

Rahul Tripathi is going to be part of the team in the coming times: Aakash Chopra

Chopra is confident about Tripathi being picked for the Ireland T20I series as some of the players in the current T20I squad will join India’s squad for the reschedule the fifth Test against England.

“We all had in our minds that he (Tripathi) should be played, he should be part of the team, he is a gun player. I am sure he is going to be part of the team in the coming times but at this point in time, he is not in the team,” Chopra said.

“They (selectors) could have done one more thing, they could have announced the Ireland team also now itself because there are two T20Is there also. You have to give an opportunity to Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson there because KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer are part of the Test team and they will go to England and you are going to give a chance to these kids in Ireland,” he added.

India’s squad for the South Africa T20I series: KL Rahul (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.

Also Read: IND vs SA: “I Think We Were Saying The Same Thing About Suryakumar Yadav Last Year” – Virender Sehwag Unhappy With Rahul Tripathi’s Absence From Indian Squad