Rinku Singh is becoming one of the most hard-hitting finishers in the Indian Cricket team. Coming from a humble family background, Rinku is able to make his place in the national cricket team as well as the KKR IPL team in the last two years. He achieved all of these things using his dedication and hard work throughout his cricket career. In the ongoing T20I series against Australia, Rinku performed some phenomenal knocks in the first two matches. Despite how much ball he is going to get to play, Rinku is doing his best with every ball he gets on the field.
Rinku’s Performance in the last 2 T20I
Rinku Singh has delivered some tremendous performances in the previous 2 T20I matches against Australia. He debuted in August this year and played only eight matches to date. In these eight matches, he showed his class. He maintained a strike rate of 200+ in every match he batted for India.
In the first T20I match, he finished the match in the very last ball of the innings by hitting a glorious six. Australian bowlers were picking wickets constantly in the last few overs, but Rinku didn’t lose hope.
He knew if he could hit one bad ball to the crowd, the match would be in the pocket. There were 2 runs required in the last 2 balls. He tried his best to finish the match before the last ball, but the non-striker end batsman got run out while running for the second run.
And the scenario transformed into 1 run to win in 1 ball. Rinku was on strike, and the bowler bowled the ball. Rinku smashed it for a six, and India won the match.
The funny part is India would win if Rinku failed to hit the six because the bowler bowled the last ball as ‘no ball’. Whatever the case is, Rinku has won the heart of every Indian fan at that night by finishing that match.
Rinku played a vital innings In the 2nd T20I game as well. He came to the field in the 19th over and took charge of the match instantly. India team management was thinking of getting to 200+ by the end of the innings as they were close to it, but Rinku had other plans.
He started smashing every ball from the very first ball and scored 31 runs in just 9 balls. By this innings, India reached to 235 runs for four wickets in 20 overs.
Dhoni’s impact on Rinku Singh
Rinku did a good amount of practice for this kind of situation where he can play only 10 or 12 balls, and he has to make whatever is needed.
He tries to stay calm at the time, doesn’t show any reaction on his face, and wants to hit every ball from the middle of the bat. That’s how Rinku handled this kind of pressured situation that he learnt from Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Rinku said, ”I bat in this number a lot, so I am calm knowing this position. I like to play each ball according to where it lands. I try to notice whether it’s a slower ball or fastball, and I respond accordingly.”
He also added, ”Finishing only. I know I’ll get 5-6 overs sometimes or maybe 2 overs sometimes. That’s exactly how I practice. As if I’m batting in the last five. That’s what VVS sir has also told me to play in the nets.”
IPL impact on Rinku
ICC men’s ODI World Cup just finished a few days back, and the whole senior team didn’t focus much on T20s this year. Team management thought to let go of some senior players for a rest in this series and give a chance to new talents.
That’s how players like Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad & others got a chance to play in this series, and they are giving their best in this series. IPL also played a very big role behind this kind of unbelievable knock of Rinku.
Rinku was in the Kings Xi Punjab team for a few years in IPL but didn’t get a chance to play in many matches. Then KKR bought Rinku almost 2 years back and gave him a chance to play.
He showed his class in the IPL by smashing back-to-back sixes and eventually got selected for the national team. Even Ian Bishop was fascinated by Rinku’s performance. He did a post on X saying,
We have also covered Gautam Gambhir’s return to Kolkata. Read it here.
Final Words
Rinku has come a long way from being a water boy in the IPL matches to finishing vital matches for India. Whatever he has done coming from a village of Uttar Pradesh is commendable and he has the faith of doing it for years. Rinku has the ability to finish matches like our past great finishers and will continue to do so whenever required.