Rinku Singh will face his toughest test in international cricket in the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. This is the opinion of the former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who was a crucial part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
India are now building their squad for next year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies, and Rinku Singh has emerged as a strong candidate to be selected in the squad, maybe even in India’s first-choice XI in the finisher’s role.
India will take on South Africa in a 3-T20I series starting Sunday in Durban.
I really think Rinku Singh is a guy who is ready: Irfan Pathan
Rinku Singh, who made his India T20I debut after an exceptional IPL 2023 season with KKR, has been superb in his short T20I career. In 6 innings, the left-hander has scored 180 runs at a strike rate of 187, while being dismissed only three times.
Irfan Pathan reckons Rinku will like to play against the pace and bounce in South Africa, and that the youngster is ready for the big challenges now after impressing so far in his career.
“I think he will enjoy the bounce and pace of the ball because he is the kind of cricketer who likes to face fast bowling. I really think he is a guy who is ready. Especially being a left-hander and especially being a free-flowing player will help,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
“He is extremely impressive. When a guy has done the hard yards in domestic cricket and waited for his chance to come good in the IPL, that means he has got a lot of experience. He knows how to take those chances, that will come his way, with both hands.”
Suryakumar Yadav will captain India in the T20I series as Rohit Sharma is rested and Hardik Pandya is injured. SKY recently led India to a 4-1 win over Australia at home.
India T20I squad vs South Africa:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar
