Dismissing Rahul early was important for Zimbabwe, says pacer Donald Tiripano
Jun 20, 2016 at 12:25 PM
Zimbabwe pacer Donald Tiripano has said that dismissing KL Rahul early on paved the way for his team’s victory against India in the first T-20.
Karnataka wicketkeeper-batsman Rahul had been a thorn in the flesh for Zimbabwe in the recently concluded ODI series. Having already got his Test career off to a flying start with two centuries from five appearances, Rahul made the most of the opportunities given to him in the limited version of the game. A century on debut, with an unbeaten 63 a couple of games later, and an overall average of 196 in three games helped India to blank Zimbabwe 3-0 in the series.
Speaking from Harare, the right-arm medium pacer Tiripano said, “Firstly I thank God. Just before I ran in I was imagining myself nicking him off, but it happened another way but all the same happy ending.”
“All I was thinking was if I get an early wicket it was going to give us a good chance of winning the game and fortunately it worked out.”
“It was a key wicket because he was winning matches for India in the past three ODIs and we knew if we take wickets, it was game on”.
“I was happy because I clean-bowled him.”
A senior Zimbabwe player revealed that the team didn’t celebrate their first win of the ongoing T20 series. He said that the players returned home after the memorable win. However, he said that they will celebrate only if they win the series.
“There were no celebrations. The celebrations are put on hold. It is 1-0 now. Will celebrate after the series win,” one of the senior players said.
Only the outstation players stay in the hotel. The players living in Harare go to their homes.
“We prefer to stay at home rather than in the hotel. Most of the Harare-based players stay close to the ground.”
“And yes, this saves Board money too.”