Rahul naam toh suna hi hoga, shouts SRK as KKR's Rahul collects award vs CSK

Cricket Desk: Rahul Tripathi didn’t get a chance in the first three matches Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was drafted into the eleven in place of Kuldeep Yadav for the match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sharjah. Though he couldn’t take his team over the line, the right-hander kept KKR in the hunt for victory until the very last over.

Once Marcus Stoinis castled him, the Knights felt short by 18 runs. The KKR management was impressed with Tripathi to such an extent that he was sent to open the batting against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It meant that Sunil Narine was demoted to number four and he smashed a six and a four before getting out to Karn Sharma.

Rahul Tripathi showing his class

As far as Tripathi was concerned, he helps the Knights utilise the mandatory powerplay, playing some scorching stokes. He didn’t get much support from the other end though. Rahul got to his half-century off a mere 31 balls and looked good to carry on. Even as KKR lost wickets at regular intervals at the other end, he blended caution with aggression and didn’t give his wicket away.

#KKRvCSK
SRK sir shout rahul naam to suna hoga😍❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/jotVqsD4aT

— Comrade Manoj (@meena_manoj95) October 7, 2020

The right-hander scored 81 runs off 51 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes. It was in the penultimate ball of the 17th over that he perished to Dwayne Bravo. Tripathi tried to guide a full-length ball down to third ball, but holed out to Shane Watson, who took a straight-forward catch. It impacted the Knights, who were eventually bowled out for 167 in their 20 overs.

However, courtesy some accurate bowling, especially in the second-half of CSK’s run-chase, KKR got over the line by 10 runs. Watson scored a fifty for the Super Kings, but his knock went in vain as his team ended on 157. In the meantime, KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan was over the moon.

When renowned journalist Harsha Bhogle was handing over the Player of the Match award to Tripathi, the Bollywood actor shouted a popular dialogue from one of his movies- “Rahul, naam to suna hi hoga’.  Tripathi was also seen laughing after Khan shouted the dialogue.