Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach Chandrakant Pandit referred to Rinku Singh’s swashbuckling batting performance in the IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans (GT) as a miracle. He further added that getting 28 runs off five balls is considered a mathematical possibility as well, but Rinku Singh made it possible. Rinku hit five sixes to pull off a sensational win for KKR.
While speaking to Cricbuzz in an interview after the game, Chandrakant Pandit said: “Well, it was a miracle, no doubt. It was a miracle that Rinku Singh could bat that way. But we were never short on our collective self-belief and Rinku’s self-belief.”
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“No coach can say with surety that his team can win from that stage. But we know the unpredictability that a T20 game is all about. So, you do not have to give up hope, particularly when Rinku was in the middle. Look, they [Gujarat Titans] scored 45 from the last 12 balls and we needed 43 in a similar situation. My thinking was if that can happen with them, anything can happen with us too. That was what we spoke in the middle. In all honesty 28 runs in five balls is virtually impossible, it’s only a mathematical possibility. But miracles do happen and Rinku pulled off that miracle,” Chandrakant Pandit further added.
Rinku Singh scored 48* off 21 balls with the help of one four and six sixes. Earlier, Venkatesh Iyer (83 off 40) also contributed well. While talking about what makes Rinku a special player, Chandrakant Pandit said that he has a different way of playing his strokes as well. Rinku Singh made his IPL debut in the 2018 and in 20 matches, he has scored 349 runs which came at an average of 24.93 and a strike rate of 139.04 as well.
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“He has a unique way of playing shots. He would appear as if he is going slow but he picks up well. He paces his innings perfectly. He has confidence in his abilities. He is an important player to the side and I am not saying this because he batted so well today or in the previous game. He plays an important role in the middle.“He bats well against pacers as well spinners and he is a very good runner between the wickets. He ticks all boxes as a batter and staying there till the end is the role that he has been performing,” Chandrakant Pandit concluded.
