IPL 2018 auction: 5 potential biggest uncapped buys

#3 Rahul Tripathi

Tripathi's tally for last season totalled to an impressive 391 runs

With the likes of MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and Ben Stokes in their ranks, few would have expected Rising Pune Supergiant's second-highest run-scorer after Steve Smith to be Rahul Tripathi. The relatively unknown Pune-bred player churned out consistent performances at the top of the order for his home franchisee.

Rahul Tripathi did exceptionally well in age-group level tournaments as a youngster. Unfortunately, his father's army posting took Rahul to Srinagar, where the atmosphere was just not conducive to his cricket development. However, on his return to Maharashtra a few years later, Rahul picked up from where he had left off. He had an excellent 2014/15 Ranji season where he amassed over 500 runs. The 2015/16 season again saw him notch 492 runs.

Tripathi had a dismal 2016/17 domestic season though and wasn't expected to deliver in the IPL. However, he proved his critics wrong and was undoubtedly one of the bargains of the season, having been bought by the Supergiants for his base price of INR 10 lakhs.

Tripathi's tally for the season totalled to an impressive 391 runs at a strike rate of almost 150. His intrepid batting style, and ability to give his team good starts make him a valuable asset to have.