Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh is the latest to sing praises of Rinku Singh, who has been the guiding light in the middle order for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season.
Rinku has hit 407 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 143.31 and an average of 50.88. With his role as a finisher coming to the fore on a couple of occasions this season, many are of the opinion that the 25-year-old should get an India call-up soon. Harbhajan also believes the same.
'Rinku Singh is KKR's new X-Factor, not Andre Russell'
"Now Rinku has become the X-factor for KKR, not Russell. Russell's era is gone. It's Rinku's time now. Even if Rinku is sent up, he can do justice to his role. He is a player of different calibre and we will soon see an India cap on his head," Harbhajan said while speaking on Star Sports' Cricket Live.
Earlier, speaking on the ICC Review, former India head coach Ravi Shastri named Rinku and Yashasvi Jaiswal as players close to their India debut. He reiterated the same while speaking to Star Sports and "Rinku Singh is the hero of Kolkata Knight Riders. His temperament is very strong and gets very comfortable in tough situations. He's a battle-hardened player. Rinku likes close matches and this ability to do well in crunch situations is what separates this player from others."
Finisher for Team India?
Rinku has become the new finisher for KKR this season and famously won them the game against GT earlier in IPL 2023 with five consecutive sixes in the final over of Yash Dayal at the start of the season.
More recently, he won them another match with a last-ball four off Arshdeep Singh against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
"The other bloke is Rinku Singh, which is a great story. The more I see of him, that guy has got a fabulous temperament. He's tough as nails. Both these guys have come through very hard backgrounds. They've worked very hard initially in their lives and nothing's come easy for them. So you can see that hunger, that passion, that drive that is so needed to make it to the top," Shastri had earlier said.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
IPL 2023: KKR get their revenge over CSK as Rinku-Rana's robust duo chases down modest total to keep playoff hopes alive
'Even when I hit those five sixes...': Rinku Singh recalls five-sixes game after leading KKR to win over PBKS
