New Delhi: On August 15, 2020, one of the greatest Indian players who ever played cricket announced his retirement from international cricket, leaving behind one of the biggest voids in the Indian batting line-up.
The player who created this void was a former Indian cricketer and one of the most decorated finishers in the game of cricket, MS Dhoni.
Since Dhoni’s retirement, India has been heavily dependent on their top order to win a match. They did try a lot of names as the finisher after Dhoni, such as Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and even Dinesh Karthik for a brief period of time, but none of them proved to be a long-term solution.
#AidenMarkram brought himself on in the penultimate over, and #RinkuSingh made him pay with back-to-back maximums 🔥
Rinku has brought his A-game to South Africa!
Tune-in to the 2nd #SAvIND T20I
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/HiibVjyuZH— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 12, 2023
Interestingly, during the IPL 2023 match between Gujrat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders, Rinku went ballistic against Yash Dayal, scoring 30 runs in the final five balls, giving KKR a memorable win, and earning himself a reputation as the finisher.
Rinku showing his longevity
One of the biggest reasons behind MS Dhoni’s success as a finisher was not his mindless power hitting, but how he paced his innings according to the situation and backed his strength to score big runs in the final overs of the game.
Dhoni’s stature was so intimidating that whenever team India required 15-20 runs off the final over, irrespective of the previous results, the bowling team always felt the pressure when Dhoni was at the striker’s end.
Good morning only to people who know that MS Dhoni is the greatest of all time.pic.twitter.com/w7AQbCNvUU
— ` (@rahulmsd_91) December 13, 2023
Just like Dhoni, in his last two series, Rinku has shown the capability to do both, i.e., ridiculous power hitting and sensible innings build-up according to the situation.
The fire and ice game of the southpaw
Rinku Singh, during the home series against Australia, scored 22* off 14 deliveries when India required 24 off the last 12 deliveries, during the first game, and 31* off nine during the second T20I, showing the range of his power hitting.
He also scored 46 off 29 in the fourth T20I against Australia, and now 68* off 39 against South Africa in the second T20I of the series, showing he has more than just power-hitting in his arsenal.
Forget fake prince and fake 360 player remember one thing Raja Rinku Singh #RinkuSingh #MSDhoni𓃵 #iplauction2024 #INDvSA #RuturajGaikwad #ShubmanGill #YuvrajSingh #siraj #CSK #KKR pic.twitter.com/GqMdwnTdYo
— Rinku Singh (@rinkusinghsrk) December 13, 2023
In both of these innings, India lost quick wickets and needed to have some stabilization before a hard-hitting ending. Rinku, being the versatile player he is, paced his innings according to the situation and took his team out of trouble.
India 🇮🇳 vs Australia 🇦🇺 2nd T20#IndiaVsAustralia #INDvsAUS #HardikPandya #IPLretention #TATAIPL #IPL2024 #MSDhoni𓃵 #WhistlePodu #INDvAUS #YashasviJaiswal #RinkuSingh
Rinku singh on fire…31(9).🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/PY8JWqjqrH
— Saurav (SG) (@oye_sg) November 26, 2023
With only 11 international T20I matches experience under his belt, it is still a little too early to call him the successor of MS Dhoni, but during his small but impactful journey, he has certainly proved that he is the safe horse to put your bets on.
