It’s the first India-Australia T20I in Visakhapatnam and Rinku Singh has his arms open to celebrate. With one run required from the final delivery of the match, he bowled Sean Abbott long on for six, sealing India’s most successful chase in T20Is.
A full stadium erupted with joy, followed by the siren of no ball. Abbott had overshot, which meant the game was over and the six wouldn’t count. Rinku found out only when he entered the dressing room and Arshdeep Singh told her. He didn’t mind though. By winning the match for his team with an unbeaten 22 off 14 balls, he proved his worth regardless.
As a finisher, Rinku’s strength is a steady head and a calm mind. A strong base and almost no initial movement allows him to face each ball as it arrives, instead of premeditating. This was also on display during the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram. Take the penultimate ball of India’s innings for example. Nathan Ellis bowled a high full delivery from around the wicket. At that stage, most hitters look to smash the ball as hard as they can. But Rinku stood still and simply opened the face of the bat to direct it between the wicketkeeper and short third for four.
In the previous over, he had smashed Abbott for three fours and two sixes, dealing with variations of pace and length with aplomb. In total, Rinku scored 31 off nine balls with a strike rate of 344.44. In T20Is involving full member countries, only Hardik Pandya (32*) has scored more in nine-ball innings. At 190 for 3 after 18 overs, India were aiming for 220. Rinku’s knock took them to a dew-proof 235 for 4.
Suryakumar Yadav, India’s captain in this series, also praised Rinku. “When he came out to bat in the first game, we needed about 40 runs off 24 balls. [55 from 31]” Suryakumar said. “The composure he showed was brilliant. And the same today when he was asked to bat in the last two overs. The fact that he gave us that finish reminded us of someone.”
Suryakumar probably had MS Dhoni in mind, but perhaps he didn’t want to put pressure on the newcomer. Then, when asked for a name, he said with a laugh: “Everyone who has done this for India.”
If Rinku really reminded Suryakumar of Dhoni, it is not a coincidence because he has been taking Dhoni’s advice. “I once asked Mahi bhai what he thinks when he bats in the last few overs,” Rinku told the BCCI website after the first T20I. “He said the more you stay calm, the more you try to hit straight, the better it will be. So I follow that now. I try to stay calm, I try not to show any reaction, and that has helped me.”
Being an ODI World Cup year, India’s focus until this series was on 50-over cricket. For the T20Is, they gave regular rest to some of their first-choice players. That, in turn, opened up opportunities for some of the fringe players. Rinku is one of them and he probably made the most of those opportunities despite batting in the toughest position in T20 cricket.
Rinku made his T20I debut in August. So far he has played only seven games and batted only four times. But in those four innings, he scored 128 runs at a strike rate of 216.94 and got out once. Among those who have batted at number 5 to 7 for India since the last T20 World Cup, his strike rate is easily the best.
With Hardik taking on more of an anchor role of late, India are looking for their next finalist for the T20 World Cup in June. At the moment, Rinku is the favorite.
