Rinku Singh on Monday scored 42 runs off 23 balls to guide the Kolkata Knight Riders to a seven-wicket win against the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The 24-year-old was named the player of the match for his match-winning effort. 

Singh smashed six boundaries and one six during his stay at the crease. He and Nitish Rana (48 off 37) stitched a 66-run partnership to help KKR chase 153 runs with five balls to spare.

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Parising Rinku Singh, Kolkata skipper Shreyas Iyer, after the match, said that the middle-order batter is a great asset to the franchise.

“The way Rinku is maintaining is calm, playing only his second or third game, is outstanding. He is a great asset for the franchise for the future. The way he gets his starts, he doesn’t look like a newcomer,” Iyer said. 

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Singh is from Aligarh. However, he is the first one from the region to play the IPL. 

“A lot of players have played Ranji from Aligarh, but I am the first to play the IPL. This is a big league and there is a lot of pressure obviously. I have been waiting for the last five years to get a chance. I worked very hard, came back from injury and did well in the domestic circuit as well. When I was batting, Bhaiyya (Rana) and Baz (McCullum) told me to stay till the end and finish it,” he said at the post-match presentation. 

Who is Rinku Singh?

Having represented Uttar Pradesh in the U-16 and U-19 stages, Rinku Singh made his First Class debut in 2016 against Hyderabad. He had made his List A debut in 2014. 

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An aggressive batter, Singh first attracted attention when he scored 95 runs in 35 balls in one of the games in a camp held by Mumbai Indians. He then followed it up with a 44-ball 91 against Tripura in the Vijay Hazare trophy 2018. 

The 24-year-old’s first IPL call-up came when the Kings XI Punjab picked him for Rs 10 lakh in 2017. He joined the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 80 lakh in 2018. However, Rinku Singh was never a regular player for the side.