Mumbai, Jun 15: His voice beaming with happiness, talented Maharashtra batter Rahul Tripathi termed his maiden India call-up, a result of his enormous hardwork put in over the years.
The 31-year-old right-hand batter Tripathi has been one of the most consistent uncapped IPL player over six seasons with 2022 edition being his best as he totalled 413 runs at a strike-rate of 158.24 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tripathi, a son of an Army man, has been consistently performing in the IPL and also for his domestic side Maharashtra.
“It is a very big opportunity, a dream come true (moment) and (I) appreciate (it),” Tripathi told PTI.
“I am very happy that the selectors and everybody believed in me and whatever hard-work I have put in, I have got the rewards. And hopefully, if I get an opportunity to play, I will try and give my best,” added Tripathi, who has the distinction of twice hitting six sixes in an over in local tournaments.
Tripathi, who has played for the prestigious Deccan Gymkhana club, one of the oldest in Pune, has 2,540 first class runs from 47 matches. He has also captained Maharashtra in domestic cricket.
India Squad: Hardik Pandya (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
Ireland Squad: Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker and Craig Young.
