Rinku Singh‘s name has been shining bright in the hearts and minds of the fans. The left-handed KKR batsman took the IPL 2023 by storm and won the hearts of all cricket fans with this thrilling batting and great temperament.
Rinku Singh finished the IPL 2023 season as KKR’s best batsman and their highest run-scorer. He stunned everyone by scoring 474 runs at a strike rate of 149 with 4 fifties, and showed great consistency in the finisher’s role.
Coming to his List-A cricket, Rinku has a brilliant record there as well: the Uttar Pradesh batter averages 53 in 50 List-A matches and has a strike rate of 95 with 1 century and 16 fifties to his name.
Success in List-A domestic cricket and in the IPL certainly means that Rinku Singh is ready for the next big step: limited-overs internationals. Given the state of the injuries and out-of-form batters in the Indian tea, it is not a far-fetched to think that the selectors may ponder over including Rinku Singh in their ODI setup as India approaches the Asia Cup 2023 and then, the big event, World Cup 2023.
Here are 2 reasons why Rinku Singh should be picked in the Asia Cup 2023 side:
India need a finisher to fill the role of Rishabh Pant
Rinku Singh was perhaps the best or second best – after Suryakummar Yadav – Indian finisher in the IPL 2023. In the death overs phase during the tournament, that is the last four overs of an innings, Rinku Singh smashed runs at a belligerent strike rate of 194. He cracked 20 sixes in the 12 times he batted in the death overs.
Rinku Singh has shown that he has a great amount of calmness when batting in the death over, proved not least in his heroic 5 sixes 5 balls against Dayal. Such temperament and composure is what Team India also need in their players on biig stages.
India need a left-hander in the middle order to break the chain of right-handers
Every ICC World Cup winning team over the past few decades have had at least one good left-hander in their top 5 or top 6 batting order. India would have had their left-hander at number 4 or 5, but Rishabh Pant got injured in the car accident last year and will not play in the Asia Cup and the World Cup 2023.
India have a coterie of right-handed batters, but they need a left-hander to break the chain of the right-handers. Having a series of right-hander exposes the team and also doesn’t challenges the bowlers and the fielding captain as a pair of left-hander and a right-hander does. Rinku Singh has shown he’s an adept batter in both holding and attacking role; he can absorb the pressure of a falling of early wickets and also the pressure of scoring quickly in the death overs.
India can even drop Shreyas Iyer from the side, push KL Rahul at number 4 and have Rinku Singh at number 5, ahead of Hardik and Jadeja.
