One of the biggest takeaways from India‘s preparations for the 2024 T20 World Cup thus far has been Rinku Singhwho has made himself undroppable from the final XI, let alone the squad. In a sample size comprising nine innings since November 2023, which includes his performance against Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan, Rinku has established himself as a designated finisher for India in T20 cricket. Although neither India captain Rohit Sharma nor head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed any plans for the eventual T20 World Cup squad, veteran India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has put his weight behind Rinku as he compared him with the legendary MS Dhoni.
The critical factor that almost makes Rinku’s selection a certainty is down to not just his strike rate at the fag end of an innings. The figure still remains as formidable as it was in IPL 2023 for Kolkata Knight Riders. But in three of those nine innings, Rinku has shown that he can also perform the roles of stabilising the innings when the top-order collapses early and tee off at the end to finish things on a high. It was seen in his knock of 46 in Raipur against Australia, an unbeaten 68 in the first T20I against South Africa and during his record 190-run stand alongside Rohit in Bengaluru when India were 22 for four against Afghanistan in the final T20I.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin called Rinku a “left-handed Dhoni”. Although he clarified that he wasn’t comparing the 26-year-old to the former India captain, Ashwin reckons Rinku brings the same composure as Dhoni.
“He is somebody I’d call a left-handed Dhoni. I can’t compare him to Dhoni just yet because Dhoni is too big. But, I am talking about the composure that he brings. He has been consistently scoring buckets of runs for UP and broke his way into the Indian team. He was on the KKR bench for many years. People used to tell me that, when he was at KKR, even though he couldn’t get the chance to bat at practice, he collected all the balls that batters hit in throwdowns and gave them back to the bowler,” Ashwin said.
“Since then, he has been with the franchise for so long, put in the hard work for UP and showed that he’s always available to get to the Indian team out of a tricky situation or finish an innings. The composure doesn’t change whether the team is batting first or chasing. His composure towards the back end of the innings is a bonus,” he added.
Rinku may have aced the auditions for the T20 World Cup so far, but the batter still needs to emulate his 2023 show for KKR in IPL 2024 in a bid to confirm his ticket for the ICC event.
