Nagpur: Rinku Singh wasn’t an automatic pick for the upcoming World Cup. He benefited from being part of a late pivot by the selectors that saw Shubman Gill going out of the squad for Sanju Samson.Ishan Kishan, who bats in the top order came in as a wicket-keeping backup, pushing Jitesh Sharma, the designated finisher out.
Rinku over Jitesh, therefore, was more of a cause-effect selection.
But on Wednesday night in Nagpur, the pocket dynamo from Aligarh showed why he should have perhaps always been part of Plan A.
Walking in at No 7 against New Zealand, Rinku scored 44 of India’s 72 runs in the final 6.2 overs. The others around him could manage only 28 (18b). The left-hander’s final flourish took New Zealand’s target from difficult to very difficult territory. Often it becomes the decisive difference. So it was proved in Nagpur.
The finisher’s role in a T20 contest is widely accepted to be the most difficult gig in the game. All through last year’s Asia Cup, Rinku Singh never got a chance. When he finally did at the fag end of the tournament, he kept his calm to strike the winning four in the final over of the final against Pakistan. A blink-and-you miss contribution, it went unnoticed.
Finishers get their moment of glory sparingly. Like Rinku got in the 2023 IPL where his five consecutive sixes off RCB’s Yash Dayal helped KKR pull off a heist. To consistently win matches in a run chase from so far down the order can become a habit, the more you do it. But at the end of the day, the opportunity to do so is also a function of the match situation.
The finisher’s role itself is far more nuanced than just being able to find boundaries at will at the backend of an innings. India flirted with the idea of Dinesh Karthik as a finisher in the 2022 T20 World Cup, but he couldn’t replicate his IPL heroics at the world stage, where entry points cannot always be timed. At the backend of his career, Karthik’s weaponry had become more limited. It is here that Rinku scores with his batting range that measures up to his cricket smarts.
Rinku comes with a List A batting average of over 50 and a first class average of nearly 60.
His record points to his ability to bat with different gears. Only there, he has to bat long. Here, he has to make maximum impact in minimum time. There is still a method to his madness.
When Rinku came out to bat in the 14th over in the Nagpur T20I, a rampaging Indian innings, suddenly ran the risk of being cut short before the allotted overs. So, Rinku took the onus of waiting it out and played second fiddle to Hardik Pandya to begin with. Only in the final three overs, did he go all out. “My thinking was just to play my game, to try and take the game deep,” he told the broadcasters.
Taking the game deep is also something that comes more naturally to Rinku. The KKR dasher has harnessed his finishing skills, batting with the unparalleled powerhouse Andre Russell. At the World Cup, he could be a perfect foil to Hardik and Shivam Dube, allowing them to take early risks with Rinku as the protection plan.
“I was telling Arshdeep to take singles in the 19th over, but leave the final over to me,” Rinku explained his strategy.
Finally, when New Zealand were forced to use a non-regular bowler in Daryl Mitchell to bowl the final over, who better than Rinku to make them pay?
Jitesh might have more power, but Rinku has more finesse and an unwavering spirit which perhaps stems from his deeply held belief – “God’s plan.”