Team India recently fielded six left-handers in their batting lineup against South Africa in Kolkata, the most they ever did in a Test match. Now with one of Sai Sudharsan or Devdutt Padikkal touted to replace injured Shubman Gill in the second Test, India would be having too many left-handers again. But there’s another southpaw smashing the selection doors. He is doing all he can and that person is none other than Rinku Singh.
After smashing 165 and rescuing his side against Andhra last month, Rinku repeated his feat, this time against Tamil Nadu in Coimbatore. Being a major attraction in first-class games for Uttar Pradesh (UP), Rinku is playing according to his hype and, in fact, smashing off that ‘T20’ tag as well. With an experience of playing 37 international games for India, Rinku is a household name but his performances in the red-ball cricket are announcing that he eyes being India’s next three-format player. He doesn’t need to be pigeonholed as a white-ball specialist.
Rinku Singh saves UP again!
Tamil Nadu bowlers had UP on the mat. After putting up a strong first-innings score of 455, TN bowlers took the first five wickets within 191 runs. Rinku Singh came when two quick wickets fell and the trail was still more than 300 runs. The backs were against the wall for the visitors but they had Rinku Singh, who played one of his finest red-ball knocks.
With the support from Shivam Mavi (54), Rinku forged himself on the Tamil Nadu bowlers and led a match-saving innings. It wasn’t a plain counter-attacking innings but a calculated knock that frustrated the host bowlers and had them on the field for five sessions. Mavi joined forces with Rinku for a crucial 104-run partnership, steadying UP’s innings after a mini-collapse. He masterfully steered the lower order, picking his moments to farm the strike and bolstering the tail-enders’ confidence to weather long spells.
Emphatically, Rinku’s 176 that saw him hammer 17 fours and six lusty sixes, four of which came against the two left-arm spinners, helped UP take a crucial first-innings lead. While Aaqib Nabi’s 14 and Kunal Tyagi’s 5 runs were extremely valuable, UP could’ve been asked to follow on if Rinku wasn’t there. Let alone follow-on, Rinku’s masterclass have now seen UP take 3 crucial points.
Should Rinku be looked at as the next Test match batter?
Just a few days after being the highest retained player for KKR, Rinku Singh showed that he has more than just the hitting aspect. Just like Pant, Rinku Singh is known to be an ultra-attacking option. But what fans should keep in mind is that, just like Pant, Rinku has a solid technique and a terrific defence.
You must have seen that Rinku comes out as a safe bet when KKR or India’s T20I side face early collapse. It just gives a great account for his batting technicalities. Yes, India have a great bunch of talents who muster mountainous runs in the Ranji Trophy but Rinku doesn’t get enough chances due to his T20I commitments. But with his strong record of 3501 runs at an average of 57.39, including 22 fifties and eight hundreds, Rinku has all the credentials to be considered as the next Test match option.
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