File image by Rinku Singh. © AFP
Rinku Singh, a consistent scorer for the Indian national team with an impressive average and strike rate, was left out of the country's 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 after a poor performance in the IPL 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, Rinku revealed the words of encouragement he received from India captain Rohit Sharma after his omission. Despite winning the IPL with KKR, Rinku was left out as India opted for a four-spin option and was instead included as a reserve for the tour.
“He (Rohit Sharma) came to me and told me it's OK, I am still young, there are many more tournaments ahead of me, the World Cup comes once every two years so I should not get disheartened by this and should focus on my game,” Rinku told News24 in an interview.
Soon after the tournament, Rinku was called up for India's five-match T20I tour of Zimbabwe, playing every match as a middle-order batsman. He then starred in the T20I series against Sri Lanka, surprisingly impressing with the ball, taking two wickets in the penultimate over of the final T20I to put India in their favour.
Currently, Rinku has an average of nearly 60 in 17 T20I innings for India at a strike rate of 174. Amazingly, he has remained not out in 10 of his 17 innings.
Link also acknowledged Virat Kohli's leadership style.
“I also like Virat Kohli because aggression is very important in leading a team and his captaincy has also been very good,” he said.Rinku had recently revealed that he would like to play for Kohli's franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) if he is not retained by KKR.
Link currently plays in the Uttar Pradesh T20 League (UP T20) and captains Meerut Mavericks, but is not included in any of the four teams for the Duleep Trophy in September.
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