Rinku Singh once again took the limelight for his nerves of steel while finishing the game for his team and making sure that there was no anti-climax in the chase against Australia. He played a 22-run cameo off 14 balls, considering his last ball six was discarded since it was given a no-ball, and the extra runs are not counted if the team crosses the victory line. During his innings, he made the finishing easy, assisting his captain by striking four 4s down the order, and even in the last over drama, he held his position firmly. 

Not a single boundary by Rinku Singh, including the discarded six off the last ball, was a blind hit, or something he would have to move across or try to do an experiment in order to get a boundary. He was just placing the ball in the gaps and timing the shots well. 

Rising to fame

Rinku Singh was not a familiar name to a lot of people, until April 9 this year, when he smashed five consecutive sixes in the last over to cover the deficit of 28 runs to seal the game for Kolkata Knight Riders. Not a one-hit wonder, Rinku has taken the role of finisher for his franchise, and has been instrumental with the bat at numerous events. 

His ability to play grounded shots with minimal risk, and at the same time, cleanly strike the ball with slogs and pulls has left the impact on many cricket observers who believe that he can be a great asset in the middle-order. He is not a slogger, who only uses power to clear the boundary, but his shots are calculated and timed.  

Rinku Singh’s journey to the Indian Team

Hailing from Aligarh, the 26-year-old started his cricket career with Uttar Pradesh under-16 and later played under-19, under-23, List A and first-class career for the state. Rinku comes from a humble background. His father worked in an LPG distribution company. One of the five siblings, Rinku had his share of trouble in his childhood. 

He was picked by KXIP for his base price of Rs 10 lakh in 2017 and later picked by KKR for Rs 80 lakh in 2018. In IPL, he has played 31 games, scoring 725 runs at an average of 36.25 at a strike rate of 142.16, which are solid figures for a middle-order batsman. 

He made his debut against Ireland in 2023 and was a part of the gold-medalist Indian squad for the Asian Games 2023.