“I sometimes copy them in front of the mirror”: Rahul Tripathi reveals how MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli kept motivating him in his Cricketing journey

Rahul Tripathi reveals how MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli acted as his motivation force ahead of SRH versus MI match in IPL 2022.

When Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) would lock horns against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, eyes would yet again be on their top-order to provide them a decent enough start with their skipper Kane Williamson having had a torrid season with the bat.

In what is a must-win match for them today, the onus would be on their in-form batters in opener Abhishek Sharma, and Rahul Tripathi to play to the best of their abilities with their playoffs qualification hanging by the thinnest of threads.

Tripathi, who comes in to bat at number 3, had played some decent knocks at the position, which helped SRH notch-up five back-to-back wins in the ongoing season, after suffering two defeats in the initial matches.

So far, across 12 innings, the 31-year-old has amassed 317 runs at an average of 35.22, with the help of a couple of half-centuries. He is the third-highest run-scorer for SRH this season.

Rahul Tripathi reveals how MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli motivated him 

Ahead of his side’s clash against MI, Rahul Tripathi, during an interaction with SRH, revealed how the likes of Indian legendary cricketers like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have motivated him in his IPL years, and how he even tries to copy them in front of the mirror.

Highly impressed by the match finishing abilities of MS Dhoni and the work ethics of Virat Kohli, Tripathi exclaimed that watching the duo has only motivated and pushed him to work in the right direction in his Cricketing journey so far.

“When I see Dhoni bhai, the way he finishes games, and the work ethics of Virat Kohli, that’s really kept motivating me and pushing me. I’d like to have those work ethics, or follow them, and like sometimes copy them in front of the mirror,” Rahul revealed.

The Ranchi-born right-hander, in fact, played his maiden IPL season for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in 2017 under MS Dhoni, and ended up as their second highest-run getter (391 runs across 14 innings), just behind Steve Smith (472 runs across 15 innings).

He then went on to play for RR (2018 and 2019), KKR (2020 and 2021), and SRH (2022).

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