Former India player Aakash Chopra said that there is a possibility that Rinku Singh might have missed out on selection in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup due to the limited opportunities given to him by the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024. The selectors announced the 15-member Indian squad for the global T20 event on Tuesday, April 30. Rinku has been picked among the four reserves, alongside Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Rinku Singh’s absence is a huge surprise. I felt he was undroppable. When we used to make the team six months back, it seemed like whenever you wrote the XI, Rinku Singh’s name would be first, and after that, you would think whether Rinku and Yashasvi (Jaiswal) could be played together. No one would have thought even once that Rinku Singh wouldn’t be part of this team. Why is he not part of the team? One is the recent form. KKR didn’t help him by not getting him to bat.”
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However, Rinku Singh has scored 123 runs at a strike rate of 150.00 in eight innings in IPL 2024. He was sent at No. 3 in KKR’s last game against the Delhi Capitals as well but he couldn’t do much. And, Aakash Chopra added that Shivam Dube might have pipped Rinku Singh
to the final middle-order batter’s position as well.
“In the end, it seemed like it became a shootout between Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh, that you should take whoever between them was hitting better and had more form. So Shivam Dube went there because he is batting that well. Rinku Singh was left behind because he didn’t get to bat. Him not getting to bat – can you hold it against him? Ideally not, because at times you don’t get to bat, and when did IPL performances go above performances for India? You are absolutely right if you are thinking from that perspective,” Chopra stated.
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“The other aspect of this is that this team doesn’t have all-rounders at all. Ravindra Jadeja is an all-rounder, but is he a great all-rounder in T20 cricket? The answer to that question is no. Does any of the top six batters bowl? Hardik Pandya is the only one who is bowling a little although his bowling is still not at that level. Shivam Dube doesn’t bowl since the impact sub has come. So who will bowl?” Aakash Chopra concluded.
