Credit: Twitter
Rinku Singh, a standout for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), attributed India's first call-up for the upcoming 2023 Asian Games to his spectacular IPL 2023 knock against Gujarat Titans (GT). After hitting five consecutive sixes against GT in the final over, Rinku gained a reputation. In the last over, with KKR needing 29 runs to win, Rinku smacked five consecutive sixes to secure a thrilling triumph and become an overnight sensation.
After a sensational IPL season for KKR, where Singh scored 474 runs at a strike rate of 149.52 and an average of 59.25, he got his call-up for India at the Asian Games in China. This will be the first time Rinku will be sporting the national colours after he was ignored for the Indian squad for the West Indies Tour.
"My life changed after those five sixes. People knew me but not that much. But after those five sixes, now a lot of people know. It feels quite good," Rinku Singh said in a video posted on the official BCCI social media handle. "My family was very happy as they would say, 'Play for India, we want to watch you.' Everything is good and everyone danced when I got selected. It was a special innings and people began to talk about me," he stated further.
Watch the video here:
India will be sending a squad full of young and budding talent to the Asian Games, which will be played from September 28 to October 8 in China. The squad is led by Ruturaj Gaikwad and includes several familiar names like Jitesh Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Shivam Dube.
Team India: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wicket-keeper)
Standby players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan
