KKR’s assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar, has given positive remarks about Rinku Singh’s strong endgame in T20 cricket. Nayar mentioned Singh’s short, impactful performance against Australia on Thursday in Visakhapatnam, saying it feels like he’s been an international player for years.
India snagged a win by two wickets against Australia in the first of the five T20I matches. In pursuit of a hefty 209-run goal, team captain Suryakumar Yadav contributed the highest score with 80 runs in just 42. A crucial, quick run of 22 from Rinku Singh on just 14 helped steer India to the finish line.
In an interview with Jio Cinema, Nayar praised the 26-year-old for once again retaining his cool under pressure.
“It takes a lot of character. We speak about someone, who has done it in the IPL and domestic cricket. Just to see Rinku hold his nerve and to have the have the composure shows that he has grown leaps and bounds.”
“It’s the third time he has done this for India, the third time India needed him to do something special, and he turned up. It’s like he’s been playing international cricket for decades, not just a handful of years.”
Abhishek Nayar
Rinku Singh hit four fours in his cameo to secure India’s win after a brief batting meltdown.
“He has mastered the art of finishing an innings” – Abhishek Nayar’s on Rinku Singh
Nayar went on to say that Rinku Singh has perfected the art of completing an innings and that he is India’s new finisher after MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya.
“It tells you that he has mastered the art of finishing an innings. It’s not easy and it’s been a while that Hardik and MS Dhoni did that for us, but post that, there’s no one, who has played the finisher’s role so well. It’s not just the runs he gets, but the way he gets them. There is a certain calm and composure about the way he’s playing his cricket.”
Abhishek Nayar
India’s victory put them ahead 1-0 in the five-game series. The next T20I? It’s set for Sunday at Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield International Stadium.