Former India batter Aakash Chopra has urged the Indian team management to not look at star India batter Rinku Singh only as a finisher. Chopra also added that Rinku is capable of being a proper batter, who can adapt to different situations in a T20I game. However, India beat New Zealand by 48 runs in Nagpur on Wednesday, January 21 in the first T20I match as well.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Chopra said, “If you are going to play with the eight batters, you need somebody who can actually bat at eight. Then Rinku has to walk into the team. But my humble request is, just don’t label him as a finisher only. Please. He has scored three T20I fifties and all those innings came when he actually, I think, walked in during the powerplay overs itself. So he’s someone who’s a grafter. He’s someone who reads the situation very well. He actually adapts and then he fires. He’s not a Pollard or a Russell or a Hardik Pandya or even a Shivam Dube, who will smash sixes for fun. He’s not someone who muscles the ball. He’s someone who actually plays the field quite nicely.”

However, speaking after India’s win in Nagpur, Rinku Singh also admitted that he was under pressure since he had not been constant in the team in recent times. He also added that he wanted to bat till the end and finish the innings as well.

“There was pressure on me as I was in and out of the team. The plan was to take singles, doubles and in between hit the boundary. Also to stay till the end and finish it off. That’s what I did. This series is very crucial, we want to win it. We want to take this confidence and momentum forward into the World Cup and win it,” he stated.