IPL 2023: Rinku Singh, The new IPL hero

Not Shah Rukh Khan. It’s not Andre Russell. Not Nitish Rana. On Monday, fans of Eden Gardens’ new hero Rinku Singh were cheering.

When Rinku hit pacer Arshdeep Singh for a four off the final ball, KKR beat Punjab Kings by five wickets, demonstrating once more his resilience under pressure.

When he won the match for KKR once more, the Eden was filled with cries of “Rinku, Rinku.”

As Andre Russell ran for a bye after missing a wide yorker from Arshdeep off the fifth ball, he acknowledged that he had complete faith in the uncapped Indian to win the match. 

The bowler bowled Russell out, but Rinku Singh ended the game in style by flicking Arshdeep’s full toss for a four through square leg

‘Definitely in any other game, with any other batter I’m not sure if I would have run. I’ve never really done those things before. I would back myself to bat till the last delivery and get the job done,’

Dre Russ said after the game.

‘But when you have a batter like Rinku at the other end and who has been successful in the last few games for us, I was definitely confident,’

the big Jamaican added.

After hitting five sixes in a row in the final over to help the Kolkata Knight Riders win a sensational victory off the final ball against the Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, Rinku became an IPL hero.

Rinku, who needed to clean floors at an educational cost place to support his cricketing goals while growing up, is at long last receiving the benefits of the hard work he put resources into for such countless years.

Following Shreyas Iyer’s injury-plagued absence to treat his back, the left-hander has emerged as a revelation for the depleted KKR team this season.

‘I didn’t think about the last ball. Even when I hit those five sixes, I hadn’t thought much. I was playing on the merit of the ball. I had the belief in me that I could finish the game. I have got used to it,’

Rinku said on Monday night, reveling in another memorable night for himself and KKR.