Rinku Singh walked Kolkata Knight Riders out of early-season trouble on Sunday, crafting an unbeaten 53 that underpinned a nervy chase against Rajasthan Royals and finally put their IPL campaign on the board.
“There was intensity, but no hesitation,” said Rinku Singh after delivering a timely, confidence-boosting unbeaten 53 under pressure to fire Kolkata Knight Riders to their first win of the season against Rajasthan Royals in a tense IPL clash here Sunday.
Coming in when the result was finely poised, Rinku balanced calm decision-making with calculated strokeplay to finish the job, staying composed even as the contest tightened.
“Sometimes it happens like that when a few things don’t go your way, so you feel that intensity. But it wasn’t like I
was hesitating or unsure about playing my shots. My mindset was to take the game till the end,” the KKR vice-captain said in the post-match presentation.
The left-hander, who had been searching for a meaningful contribution in this campaign, capitalised on an early let-off and then shifted gears smartly, steadily taking the game away from Rajasthan as the chase progressed.
“That’s what happens sometimes. The mind doesn’t work properly, and you end up playing such shots. But thankfully, luck was on my side, and we eventually won the match,” he said.
Rinku acknowledged that such a knock had been overdue and underlined how much it mattered to him from a personal standpoint.
“I had played quite a few innings and was waiting for a big one. This was a very good innings for me and also very important for my confidence.”
Reaffirming his flexibility in the batting order, Rinku stressed he has no preference for a particular slot and is prepared to adjust to the team’s requirements.
“There’s nothing like a fixed position for me. I can bat at number five, lower down the order, or even at number four. Wherever the team needs me, I’m ready.”
With KKR finally opening their account, Rinku felt the result could be a turning point in their season and a source of collective belief in the dressing room.
“This will give us a lot of confidence because this is our first win of the season. From here, we will carry this momentum forward,” he said.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane shared that sense of relief, describing the outcome as both emotional and crucial after a string of disappointing performances.
“Really happy to be here. Feels really good. There were a lot of emotions during the game,” Rahane said, singling out Rinku and the bowlers for praise.
“I’m really happy for Rinku, Anukul (Roy) and Varun (Chakravarthy). The way Varun bowled… Anukul had a fantastic domestic competition.”
Rahane underlined the value of understanding match scenarios and conceded that while the bowling group had responded well, there was still work to do with the bat.
“It’s about reading the situation well. Cricket is a simple game. This victory will give us confidence. The bowlers are coming nicely together. Batting-wise, we can still improve.”
He also lauded young pacer Kartik Tyagi for his clarity and confidence.
Reflecting on the broader pattern of their struggles, Rahane pointed to the recurring issue of underwhelming starts with the bat during the powerplay overs.
“We’ve had a bad powerplay for the last three games. Sometimes I feel strike rate is overrated… this was a great escape for us. As a batting unit, we need to learn very quickly.”
On the other side, Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag rued a series of fielding errors that, in his view, swung the contest away from his team at crucial stages.
“I thought it was a 170-run wicket, we fell 10 runs short. Errors from our side. We can’t be dropping catches, that cost us the game,” Parag said.
Rinku was dropped early in his innings.
Parag felt his bowlers had identified the right plan with spin on a responsive pitch but admitted that they failed to execute when it mattered most, particularly in the closing overs.
“There was a lot of spin on the wicket. I thought spin was the way to go. The platform was set, but the execution went wrong. We wanted to go hard in the last five overs, but that didn’t happen,” he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
