Indian Premier League (IPL) stars Rahul Tripathi and Rahul Tewatia have reacted in contrasting ways to the announcement of the Indian T20 squad for the series against Ireland to be played later this month.
While Tripathi, who made the squad for the two matches in Ireland, was ecstatic and called it a dream come true, Tewatia was unhappy about missing out and said he was hurt by the decision.Both Tripathi and Tewatia have done well in the IPL in recent years and were hoping to be called up for national duty with many regulars being either rested, left out due to injuries, or ignored due to poor form.
They did not get called up for the home T20I series against South Africa or the white-ball series in England. But the Indian selectors picked the experienced Maharashtra batsman Tripathi for the two T20Is against Ireland while all-rounder Tewatia missed out.
Tripathi was very happy and claimed his hard work has got him the reward He is hoping that he will get a chance to get into the playing XI. He thanked all those that believed in him and his abilities and called it a dream come true for him.
Tripathi, the 31-year-old right-hand batter who leads Maharashtra at the domestic level, has been one of the most consistent uncapped players in IPL in the last few seasons. The 2022 edition was the most successful for the Sunrisers Hyderabad star as he scored 413 runs at a strike rate of 158.23.
Meanwhile, Tewatia was disappointed with missing out despite playing a key role in Gujarat Titans' maiden IPL-winning campaign."Expectations hurts (sic)," he wrote in a tweet that went viral.
The 29-year-old Tewatia's disappointment was understandable as he had got a call-up for a T20I series against Australia in 2020 but could not clear the fitness test in time for the series.In IPL 2022, Tewatia played the role of a finisher for Gujarat Titans, scoring 217 runs in 16 matches at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 147.62.