26-year-old Rinku Singh became the first Indian cricketer to win back-to-back ‘fielder of the series’ medal. After the cleansweep against Sri Lanka with a super over win at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on July 30, T Dilip asked assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate to present the ‘fielder of the series’ medal in the dressing room. Riyan Parag, Ravi Bishnoi were also nominated for the award but Rinku bagged it once again.
Earlier this month, Rinku won the ‘fielder of the series’ award after the 4-1 win over Zimbabwe in the T20I series.
As Rinku received the medal, he said 'God's plan baby!' which is something he has been saying since Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 triumph. In the background, head coach Gautam Gambhir can be seen smiling as well. He hugged Gambhir after winning the medal as well.
Earlier, Rinku bowled for the first time in T20Is. He was handed the ball by Suryakumar Yadav for the penultimate over when Sri Lanka needed nine runs from 12 balls with a set Kusal Perera on strike. Rinku darted one in and got Perera’s wicket to bring a smile on Gambhir’s face. He took Ramesh Mendis’ wicket as well and conceded just three runs. Then Suryakumar introduced himself into the attack and took the game in super over. India won the super over comprehensively to win the third T20I.
Lacklustre series with bat
Rinku could not do much with the bat in the T20I series. In two innings, he registered scores of one each. He will head back home after the T20I series win as he is not a part of the ODI series which commences on August 2.
Player of the match
Washington Sundar won the 'Player of the match' award for a couple of wickets while defending and in the super over. He restricted Sri Lanka's super over score to just two runs.
Player of the series
Meanwhile, Suryakumar who took two wickets in the last four and won the match in super over with a boundary was named 'Player of the series'. He scored 92 runs from three games. His strike rate of 195.74 stood out of the lot.
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