Rinku Singh Breaks Silence After Maiden India Call-up For Asian Games, KKR Remind Fans of Five Sixes Heroics

Middle-order batter Rinku Singh has earned a much-awaited Team India call-up for the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to start from September 23. Previously, Rinku’s exclusion from India’s T20I squad for the series against West Indies had baffled many but the talented Kolkata Knight Riders batter has now found a spot in the national team.

The 25-year-old batter was expected to be named in India’s squad for the West Indies tour, but ultimately the selectors decided otherwise, handing Rinku his maiden call-up for the second-string Indian team which will take part in the Asian Games.

While the senior Indian team will be occupied with the preparation of the ICC ODI World Cup, the second-string young unit led by Ruturaj Gaikwad will be gunning for gold at the Asian Games.

Following his maiden Team India selection, Rinku shared a picture, posted by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, on Instagram to express his feelings. In the photo, Rinku can be seen in the Team India jersey. The southpaw reacted to the wholehearted Instagram post with a ‘Nazar Amulet’ emoji.

Rinku had a tremendous outing in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) with Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this year. The 25-year-old scored 474 runs, including four half-centuries, at an average of 59.25 in IPL 2023. His strike rate had been an incredible 149.53.

Rinku rose to fame after hitting five sixes in the last over of an IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans to guide KKR to an epic victory. In first-class cricket, he has so far taken part in 42 matches. Having featured in 63 first-class innings, Rinku has 3007 runs, seven centuries and 19 half-centuries under his belt. His average in first-class cricket is an impressive 57.82.

Following Rinku’s selection in the Indian team, KKR reminded fans of his blistering five sixes by sharing a video of the last over against Gujarat Titans.

Rinku Singh is expected to make his Team India debut under the leadership of Ruturaj. Apart from Rinku, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma are the other uncapped T20I players who have been named in the Indian cricket team’s 15-member squad for the Asian Games.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) opted for a second-string side for the Asian Games as the continental event will clash with the initial phase of the World Cup, scheduled to start from October 5.

The upcoming Asian Games will also mark India cricket team’s maiden participation in the continental event. Cricket was a part of the Asian Games twice — in 2010 and 2014 – but Team India did not feature in the tournament on those two occasions.

Team India (Senior Men) squad for the Asian Games: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)

Stand-bye players: Yash Thakur, R Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, B Sai Sudharsan