Rinku Singh is the T20I finisher India need

Not many cricketers have captured the Indian cricketing imagination as Rinku Singh over the past few months. Back in April, while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, he hit five sixes in the final over to win them a match they had no business even getting close to.

Throughout that season, he showed he was not a one-trick pony or a flash in the pan. He scored runs in a variety of situations, tackled various conditions adeptly, and put most oppositions he faced, to the sword.

In fact, had anyone told you he had played only 17 IPL games prior to the 2023 edition, you would have probably laughed it off. Such was his conviction, and such was the manner of his stroke play, that these displays came about when he was playing the role of the finisher, which is arguably the toughest gig in white-ball cricket, only illustrates why he is a special cricketer.

All of that has just continued in the ongoing T20I series between India and Australia. Because of its close proximity to the final of the ODI World Cup, which the Men In Blue convincingly lost to Australia, its importance may have dwindled.

The fact, though, remains that the next ICC event – namely the T20 World Cup, is just about six months away – and if India are to quench their ICC trophy thirst next summer in the West Indies and the USA, they need their players ready for the big time.

Ready like Rinku seems to be.

At the forefront of that assessment is his ability to understand situations, stay in the present, and then figure out a way to get out of those circumstances. The domestic grind he has gone through means he has different gears to his game, and if early evidence is used, he knows when to slip into which gear.

If there is a collapse, his extraordinary first-class pedigree (his first-class average is 57.82, by the way) allows him to buckle down. If quick runs are needed, his repertoire of strokes enables him to dominate from the outset.

That is particularly pertinent because Hardik Pandya, who has often acted as India's designated finisher, is nursing another serious injury, and does not have great T20I numbers (188 runs at a strike rate of 110.58) this year either.

Ravindra Jadeja, despite orchestrating an incredible heist in the IPL final in May, has not played T20I cricket for more than a year. And Axar Patel, despite a couple of promising outings in the recent past, is yet to nail down that finisher spot.

Shivam Dube, drafted in after a stellar IPL campaign, also seems more suited to batting higher, whereas Jitesh Sharma has not gotten the run of India games he would have hoped for.

Rinku, thus, is the finisher India seem to be banking upon.

Rinku Singh has taken to international cricket like a duck to water

So far, he has batted four times for India in T20Is. The most number of balls he has faced in an innings is 21 – against Ireland in Dublin a few months ago. He has managed to make an impact each time. In fact, all four of his knocks can be categorized as giving India the requisite final push to win that particular contest.

The T20I against Ireland, where he scored 38 off 21, allowed India to post 185, which seemed in doubt when Ruturaj Gaikwad perished on the first ball of the 16th over, with the score reading 129-4. India won that game by 33 runs.

The Asian Games quarter-final against Nepal, where Rinku smashed 37 off 15, powered India to a 200-plus total, despite a middle-order wobble. Those extra runs gave India the cushion they needed, and they ultimately triumphed by 23 runs.

The first T20I against Australia saw India almost fluff their lines, despite Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav putting them in pole position for much of the run chase. When push came to shove, however, only Rinku held his nerve, even as others around him tried to make the run-chase as tedious as possible. He finished with 22*, which could well have been 28* had Sean Abbott not overstepped when India needed one run off the final ball.

On Sunday, India’s top three all got fifties. Suryakumar’s dismissal in the 18th over, coupled with Gaikwad not quite finding his range, meant that India were suddenly staring at a score of around 215, which on a true batting track, might have kept Australia very interested.

Instead, Rinku pummelled 31 off nine balls and got India to 235 and despite Australia sparkling in patches, that score always seemed beyond them. Of course, there were other factors involved in India winning these matches, but there can be no denying Rinku’s impact.

All of these, apart from the obvious talent he has, comes down to his ability to concentrate on what is there in front of him, which, by the way, is not easy.

At some point in life, chances are all of us would have either delved too deeply into nostalgia or daydreamed about futuristic fantasy, only to lose track of what is on hand.

Extend that to white-ball cricket and specifically the death overs, and any specialized finisher cannot repent over what has happened in the overs gone by, nor can he/she aim too high, and subsequently crash and burn.

A cool and calm head is the order of the day. A mind that tells you just to focus on what is there in front of you, and be in the moment. The next ball. The next challenge. Whatever it may be.

Rinku does that to the tee and has drawn on conversations with a great man who once wore the No. 7 jersey for India. That guy, oh, he was a master at this – shutting everything out, and just concentrating on the present, while looking the bowler in the eye and daring him to err.

Rinku, undeniably, has a long way to go before emulating MS Dhoni. The signs, though, are there. In whatever little cricket he has played for India, he has shown that he can soak up all the pressure, maintain equanimity, and do whatever the situation demands of him. That he can be this proper point-of-difference batter late in the middle order, and someone who can win India a game of cricket out of nowhere.

This might sound cliché, but as long as he is at the crease, there is now a feeling that the game is not over. Not many, at least in Indian cricket, have carried that aura. That alone should tell you all about Rinku, and how far he has come.

A couple of years ago, when he was featuring only intermittently for KKR, and when his mountain of domestic runs went unnoticed, many would not have realized he was the finisher India had.

Now, he is probably the finisher India need.

And that is all down to Rinku. His talent, his dedication, his hard work, and of course, his composure.