Rinku Singh gained significant recognition during the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League. As a left-handed batsman, he topped the run charts for the Kolkata Knight Riders. In a game against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, he hit five consecutive sixes to unexpectedly secure a victory. Following his impressive performance in the IPL 2023, Rinku made his debut in white-ball cricket for India in August during the series against Ireland. He has since played in two One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 23 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
The 26-year-old player is a key member of the Kolkata Knight Riders team and is expected to be kept on the roster before the big IPL 2025 auction. However, if Kolkata chooses to let him go, Rinku hopes to join Virat Kohli’s team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the lucrative IPL.
Rinku shared this during a recent interview with Sports Today when asked which team he’d prefer if KKR doesn’t keep him. He said, “I’d like to play for RCB because Virat Kohli is there.”
Rinku, who was one of the four backup players for India in the T20 World Cup 2024, was not selected by the BCCI for the Duleep Trophy 2024, which is scheduled to begin on September 5 in Andhra Pradesh. Rinku believes he was not chosen for any of the four teams announced by BCCI on August 14 because his performance in domestic cricket has not been strong.
“I haven’t done that well. I didn’t play many matches in the Ranji Trophy, only 2-3 matches, and didn’t perform well in those, so I wasn’t selected. If I get to play more matches in the future, hopefully, my name will be considered.”
Rinku last played for India in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in July 2024. In the third T20I, he took two wickets. He believes that everyone now knows he can contribute with his bowling.
“Everyone knows now (about my bowling) because in the last match against Sri Lanka, I bowled and took 2 wickets, so everyone knows that I can also bowl.”
