Former India pacer Ashish Nehra has applauded Rinku Singh for proving that the selectors are right for keeping faith in him and picking him in India’s squad for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa as well. Rinku scored 46 runs off 29 deliveries as India put up 174/9 after being asked to bat first in the fourth T20I against Australia in Raipur on Friday, December 1. India then restricted the visitors to 154/7 to register a 20-run win and take a 3-1 lead in the five-match series as well.

During a discussion on JioCinema, Nehra said: “Firstly everyone needs to understand that you know Rinku Singh more because of T20s, but don’t forget he has an average close to 50 even in the Ranji Trophy. He has been picked in the 50-over team as well, so the selectors would have seen something. It is a massive plus for the Indian team that you have selected him in the 50-over format and he got to bat early today and showed everyone that he can deliver in such a scenario as well.”

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Rinku Singh walked out to bat when India were in a slight spot of bother at 63/3 after 8.1 overs. He added 48 and 56 runs with Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 off 28) and Jitesh Sharma (35 off 19) for the fourth and fifth wickets respectively to help the hosts set a challenging target for the visitors.

Ashish Nehra also added that Rinku Singh showed that he is not just a finisher of the game but he can play well up in the order too.

“The most important thing was that he came in the ninth or tenth over today, he didn’t come in the 17th or 18th over. We have seen him many times after the 16th over or so but the sort of knock he played was praiseworthy and the team needed that,” Ashish Nehra concluded. “There was a time when it seemed they (India) could reach 190 as well but if you had lost Rinku Singh’s wicket at that stage, you might have been stopped at 160. Whether you would have won or lost that match, it is something for later.”