It was the next day the T20 team was selected for the Indian team’s tour of the West Indies. There was every possibility of Rinku Singh getting elected but it could not happen. But he was calm when he left the field. He did some mimicry or joke which made his companions laugh. This showed that this is not in his hand, he does not think about it.
Some journalists on the field demanded the support staff of the central zone to talk to Rinku, But he calmly refused, It didn’t mean he was arrogant or rude, Rather he was shy because he knew that the questions would come only if he was not selected Because he did not bat in that match he can talk about his performance.
A member of the support staff delivered his message, “He’s downhearted but has said he’s ready for bigger challenges. He has not refused to talk because he was not selected for the West Indies. He wants to enjoy his game and do well in Bengaluru. He’ll be happy to talk later.” He took out two more weeks in Bengaluru for the Duleep Trophy but the latter never came. After this, however, he was selected first for the Asian Games in China and later for the T20 in Ireland.
Rinku talks in very few words. As he did after winning the player of the match for his 21-ball 38 against Ireland.
It was an inning of two halves. They took their time earlier and after losing a few quick wickets, it was important. He knew that the Indian batting is still number 8. After this, he came to a position where he knew what to do now.
Rinku played at a strike rate of 100 for 15 balls. In which he hit leg-spinner, Ben White, while sweeping a four, he was looking towards a single. But in the 19th over, he played freely in which he took out a four on a wide yorker, and then on a slow off-cutter, he hit a six over long-on.
Rinku’s strength is that he knows his game, he knows how to send the ball out of the ground with ease. The advantage of those two boundaries was that Barry McCarthy came under pressure and he went on to bowl two wides.
He then missed the length while attempting a McCarthy wide yorker. Rinku knew that the third man was standing a little square, so he pulled off a well-timed shot to the right of the point. He then hit an excellent lofting cover drive towards extra cover and this overcame for 22 runs, giving India momentum.
This also helped Shivam Dubey who was playing 13 runs in nine balls. He started with two sixes in the final over. The Indian spectators were jubilant when the third ball went for a single. Rinku was on strike now and he played an amazing shot over deep backward square leg. His wrist and power were excellent for this pickup shot. After that, the fun ended when the ball took the top edge while trying to pull the next ball. But by then he had taken India to 185 runs. This inning of Rinku reminds us of the innings he played in Ahmedabad from where his career and life changed completely.
But Rinku is not a complete IPL wonder or his selection for IPL 2023 did not happen after that innings. This happened because of the runs he scored for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket.
For example, in the 2018-19 Ranji season, Rinku was the second-highest run-scorer in the Elite Division. He scored 953 runs in 13 innings at an impressive average of 105.88, which included four centuries and three half-centuries. Rinku led UP to the knockouts in the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy where he scored 379 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 94.75, including four fifties and a century.
This shows that he is a player of all three formats, which is why that inning did not make Rinku reach Team India. What that innings gave him was to bring him fame which could not happen at the domestic level. This is a huge difference and Rinku knows it.
Rinku then said on the BCCI website, “Life completely changed after those five sixes. People remember me just for that. It feels better.”
Rinku has struggled a lot in his life but his simple upbringing has taught him not to let fame get him down! When he takes the field on Wednesday, he will want to forget his Sunday performance.
Next year is the T20 World Cup and Rinku will have aspirations of making it into the team but that won’t bother Rinku, as he scored 15 runs ball-by-ball on Sunday.
