Rahul Tripathi becomes third oldest Indian T20I debutant
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Rahul Tripathi becomes 102nd Indian T20I cricketer
The wait is finally over for Rahul Tripathi, who will be playing his first match in Indian Blues against Sri Lanka in the second T20I at his home ground, Pune.
The Maharashtra batter has become the 102nd cricketer to earn an Indian cap in the shortest format of the game.
Prior to the toss at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, the 31-year-old received the cap from India's batting coach Vikram Rathour.
Interestingly, Tripathi is the third oldest Indian men’s player to play T20I cricket, after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and veteran batter turned coach Rahul Dravid.
The homeboy has gotten the opportunity to make his India debut, after Sanju Samson got his knee injured in the first match at Wankhede.
BCCI had named Vidarbha batter Jitesh Sharma as a like-to-like replacement for the injured keeper-batter, however; Tripathi has gotten his deserving due as he has been travelling with the white-ball teams for an year now.
The Hardik Pandya-led force have also brought in Arshdeep Singh, who missed the last game due stiffness, in place of Harshal Patel.
Meanwhile, the Asian Champions have made no changes for their Playing XI and will bat first at Pune after losing the toss.
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