Rinku Singh’s return to form is not just good news for Kolkata Knight Riders, but also for the entire country.
Rinku, because of his humble beginnings, caught the imagination of the public from day one. Since a very large portion of the population struggles to make ends meet, his story resonates with them.
On Sunday, in what was the first match of the day, Rinku helped KKR register their first win of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL). He scored 53 not out off 34 balls to save his team from a terrible situation. On a tricky Eden Gardens pitch, chasing 156 to win, KKR found themselves reeling at 85/6 when Anukul Roy joined the barely-settled Rinku.
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In light of their previous performances, many KKR fans had given up, but Rinku, in the company of Roy, had other ideas. He got into repair work straight away and bided his time. He ensured that not only did he hold his end tightly, but Roy also didn’t try to do something outlandish under pressure. His guidance for him was there all through. And then in the few overs of the chase, they cut loose and finished the job in style.
The last couple of years have been quite bad for Rinku. He often batted way down the order, not just for KKR but also for the Indian cricket team. As far as the latter was concerned, he often also ended up losing his place in the Playing XI. Batting lower down the order, either he got very few deliveries or found himself under tremendous pressure when the batsmen above him didn’t come good at all and more often than not, he failed. Some blamed him, and others blamed both the managements for wasting his precious talent.
Then, during the T20 World Cup, he couldn’t focus on the job at hand because of his father’s illness, who eventually passed away during the Super 8s stage. In the lead-up to Sunday’s game, the left-handed batsman had only accumulated 79 runs at an average of 19.76 and a strike rate of 117.91.
Tiwary’s support and Rinku’s little promotion!
In the previous match against Gujarat Titans, even Roy was sent ahead of Rinku, which got former India batsman Manoj Tiwary to question KKR’s intentions. “You changed the entire batting order. You sent Anukul Roy higher up. You just sent Rinku Singh an indirect signal that you don’t have any faith in him. Whoever is thinking in their right mind would send Rinku higher up, as he has been your asset for such a long time,” he told Cricbuzz.
After his match-winning innings at No.6, Rinku, who also had some rub of the green having been dropped by Nandre Burger on 8 off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja, admitted he had been under pressure for some time. “When runs don’t come, you start thinking. It was not that I was hesitating in hitting my shots. The mindset was to take it till the end. You play those shots [when he was dropped trying to pull off a no-look slog] when your mind isn’t working. God helped me. It was a very good innings for my confidence. The win will give us a lot of confidence. We’ll look to carry this momentum forward,” he said.
One really hopes this innings is the resurrection of Rinku. KKR may not eventually be able to qualify for the play-offs, in view of just one win in seven games, but if Rinku can play a few more blinders like today’s, the KKR season won’t be a waste entirely.