People are expecting Rinku Singh to be another Yuvraj Singh: Sunil Gavaskar

Rinku-Singh. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Indian cricket fans would like to think that they have unearthed a new finisher in Rinku Singh. The young batter has done exceedingly well in T20Is since his debut against Ireland in August.

Rinku’s stocks rised substantially after he hit Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes in the last over during this year’s Indian Premier League to help the Kolkata Knight Riders register a memorable win against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. Legendary former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar noted that Rinku’s belief in his own abilities has helped him stand out from the rest.

“Talent – it’s not given to everybody. You can love the game. You can play all day, but sometimes you know you might not quite have the talent, but he has the belief that he could do it, and that’s what he’s done over the last 2-3 years. Again here in the IPL, he was in and out of a lot of teams when he finally got the opportunity and the way he grabbed it (was amazing),” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Rinku has scored 180 runs after playing six T20I innings, at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 187.50. He will be key to India’s chances during the three-match T20I series against South Africa. Gavaskar mentioned that the Indian fans are comparing the southpaw’s abilities to Yuvraj Singh, one of India’s greatest match-winners in white-ball cricket. The former India captain said that if Rinku can emulate even a fraction of what Yuvraj did for the country, it would be a phenomenal achievement.

“And now he’s part of an India team. And now there’s so much, so many high expectations of them. They are now expecting him to be another Yuvraj Singh. Rinku Singh – Yuvraj Singh. So if you can do even a fraction of what Yuvraj did for Indian cricket, then he will have done wonderfully well,” Gavaskar said.

Rinku has also received a maiden call-up to India‘s ODI side for the three-match series that will commence after the completion of the three T20Is. He would love to cement his place in both the white-ball formats with marquee events like the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy on the horizon.