Rinku Singh provided compelling evidence of his T20 credentials in the rain-interrupted second T20I against South Africa in Gqeberha on Tuesday. Coming in at 55/3 in the sixth over, the 26-year-old from Aligarh cracked an unbeaten 68 off 39 balls as India reached 180/7 in 19.3 overs when the rain came down. A revised target of 152 in 15 overs was chased down comfortably by the hosts in 13.5 overs as Andile Phehlukwayo finished the game with a six. Opener Reeze Hendricks starred in the chase with a 27-ball 49.
The overcast skies influenced South Africa captain Aiden Markram’s decision to bowl, but the flat pitch allowed Rinku to bolster his case for a spot in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States in June.
With India just playing four T20Is (one versus South Africa and three versus Afghanistan) before that, it is performances in IPL that are likely to determine the squad composition for the marquee event. For the moment, Rinku seems well placed to make the cut with his role as a finisher at No. 6 having few competitors. Hardik Pandya too is suited to that slot, but Rinku has certainly shown this year that he deserves to be in the mix. While he has been part of IPL since 2018, he had a breakthrough campaign in 2023, tallying 474 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 149.53.
On Tuesday, India raced to 53/2 in five overs despite losing openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill without scoring within the first two overs. With Ruturaj Gaikwad unavailable for selection due to illness and Rohit Sharma rested for the white-ball leg, Jaiswal and Gill squandered opportunities to nudge ahead in the race for the opening slots. While Jaiswal’s cut shot off Marco Jansen found David Miller at point, Gill was trapped leg-before by Lizaad Williams. Tilak Varma and skipper Suryakumar Yadav got on with the task at hand, taking 47 runs in the next three overs with a mix of wristy flicks, ramps and fluent drives.
Just as India seemed to be gaining the upper hand though, Gerald Coetzee struck in the final over of the powerplay. The ball was short and wide, and Tilak slashed at it with the intention of fetching six runs. But he wasn’t able to clear Jansen — the tallest South African in the outfield — at third man.
With Rinku just needing a bit of time to get going, it was Suryakumar who had to keep his foot on the accelerator early in their partnership. In the ninth over, he helped a length ball by Andile Phehlukwayo past short fine leg for four. Two overs later, he put his trademark ramp to use once again, this time hitting Jansen for six. While a single off the next ball brought up a 29-ball fifty for Suryakumar, Rinku joined in on the boundary-hitting act in the same over as successive fours helped India reach 101/3 in 11 overs.
Rinku upped the ante in the 13th over by punishing a wayward Phehlukwayo for three fours in five deliveries. The partnership for the fourth wicket had swelled to 70 when Surya’s attempt to go after wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi went awry, offering Jansen a straightforward catch at long off.
Not that it was going to curb Rinku, lethal as he was against short deliveries. When the line was outside off-stump, he cut aerially through point. When the ball was directed at his body, he was able to employ the pull just as easily.
Against spin too, Rinku displayed ample skill. With the straight boundaries at St. George’s Park long enough to keep the spinners in play, Markram gave away just four runs off the first four deliveries of the penultimate over with his part-time off-spin. But Rinku wouldn’t let Markram get away cheaply, dispatching the final two balls for sixes. The first T20 in Durban was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.
