‘Would rate Stokes’ century better than Tripathi’s 93’

Rising Pune Supergiants' middle- order batsman Manoj Tiwary ternmed Rahul Tripathi's 93 as an "outstanding knock" but rated Ben Stokes' century against Gujarat Lions as a "better" one simply for the adverse situation in which he scored those runs.

"Honestly I will put Ben Stokes' innings ahead of Tripathi's. We were 10/3 in the last match. The way he took us through was a treat to watch. It was one of the best innings I have witnessed," Tiwary told reporters after Supergiant beat KKR in their away encounter.

But he was all praise for Tripathi, who has been one of the finds of the season.

"Rahul was outstanding. He's been in good touch from the start of the season. Last year, he scored a hundred against Bengal (domestic season). I knew that he would come up. He's been good touch, I'm really happy that he carried that momentum into IPL," Tiwary said.

The Bengal captain feels that gone are those days when youngsters were nervous when pitted against world class players during the initial days of IPL.

"Initially in the IPL, youngsters were nervous. Nowadays they are all matured enough to deal with all these situation. They are not intimidated by jam packed stadiums. The focus is on the middle. It didn't look like Rahul was focusing anywhere apart from the 22yards. His fanbase will grow further after this."

But Tiwary didn't forget to mention that Stokes' inspirational performance against Gujarat Lions has played a massive part in Rising Pune Supergiant's resurgence.