Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has heaped praise on Indian batter Rinku Singh, comparing him to former India captain MS Dhoni, following his heroics in the India vs Afghanistan series
Another sensational display in an Indian shirt has left Ravichandran Ashwin in awe of young finisher Rinku Singh. Ashwin, who bowls off-spin for India in certain formats, has labelled Rinku a 'left-handed (MS) Dhoni', bestowing him with praise for his ability to attack bowlers toward the tail-end of the innings - something Dhoni had developed a mastery in. (More Cricket News)
Following a breakout season with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, Rinku has become a T20 International regular for Team India and is on the peripheries of the other format squads. To that end, he was recently named in the roster for the third multi-day Test between India A and England Lions.
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“He is somebody I’d call a left-handed Dhoni. I can’t compare him to Dhoni just yet because Dhoni is too big. But, I am talking about the composure that he brings. He has been consistently scoring buckets of runs for UP and broke his way into the Indian team. He was on the KKR bench for many years," Ashwin said of Rinku via his YouTube channel.
"People used to tell me that, when he was at KKR, even though he couldn’t get the chance to bat at practice, he collected all the balls that batters hit in throwdowns and gave them back to the bowler.
“Since then, he has been with the franchise for so long, put in the hard work for UP, and showed that he’s always available to get to the Indian team out of a tricky situation or finish an innings. The composure doesn’t change whether the team is batting first or chasing. His composure towards the back end of the innings is a bonus.”
Across the three most recent international matches, all against Afghanistan, Rinku scored 94 runs with a strike rate of over 160. His best display came in the third T20I of the series in Bengaluru when he raced to 69 off 39 balls with two fours and six sixes and was unbeaten by the end of the innings.