“Rinku Singh is a pocket rocket” - Ravi Shastri hails KKR batter for spectacular knock vs LSG in losing cause

Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri hailed Rinku Singh as a "pocket rocket" after his 15-ball 40 nearly helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) chase down 211 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2022 match on Wednesday.

Chasing the huge target, Kolkata seemed out of the contest at 150 for six in the 17th over as Andre Russell was dismissed for five. However, Rinku hammered two fours and four sixes to bring KKR to the brink of victory. In a heartbreak for the left-hander and the franchise, Kolkata lost by two runs and were eliminated from IPL 2022.

Showering praise on 24-year-old Rinku for his fighting effort with the willow, Shastri told ESPNcricinfo:

“Rinku Singh is a pocket rocket. How well he batted. He is a free-spirited cricketer. The way he fields and takes catches, he really enjoys himself and gives it everything. In the batting, we saw that he may be small in frame but hits the ball really hard. Really enjoyed his batting. After Russell got out, it seemed KKR’s hopes were over, but Rinku’s 40 off 15 balls brought them back in the game out of nowhere.”

With Kolkata needing three off the last two balls, Rinku fell to a superb one-handed catch by Evin Lewis off Marcus Stoinis’ bowling. Umesh Yadav was bowled next ball as KKR fell tantalizingly short of the target.

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“KKR showed a lot of character after being nine for two” - Ravi Shastri

Despite the loss, Shastri gave credit to Kolkata for displaying character in the huge chase after losing their openers early. He said:

“KKR showed a lot of character after being 9 for 2 in a chase of 211. Shreyas Iyer started the fightback by attacking and featured in a good partnership with Nitish Rana. That stand gave them some momentum. They showed good character to cross 200. That was a positive for Kolkata.”

LSG pacer Mohsin Khan dismissed Venkatesh Iyer for 0 and Abhijeet Tomar for four. Shreyas (50 off 29) and Rana (42 off 22) gave Kolkata’s innings some solidity before Rinku and Sunil Narine (21* off seven) almost pulled off a miraculous win.

The heartbreaking two-run loss meant that Kolkata ended their IPL 2022 campaign with 12 points (six wins, eight losses). They became the third IPL team to be eliminated after the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).