Irfan Pathan on Rinku Singh: ‘Couldn’t fully capitalize on the chances he got’

Rinku Singh burst onto the scene in the 2023 season, where he established himself as a designated finisher for the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, in the last couple of seasons, his form has dipped quite sharply. In fact, after a breakthrough season in which he managed to churn out 474 runs from 14 innings, his returns went down to 374 runs from 22 innings in the last couple of seasons. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan pointed at the dip in the form of Rinku and said the southpaw could not make use of the opportunities he got.

“We will have to see how much opportunity he gets to play. His 2023 season was outstanding. He scored 400-450 runs with a strike rate of 150. But after that, his performance dipped, and many times he didn’t get enough opportunities. He will have to maintain his standard and maximize the opportunities he gets. Even in the World Cup, he played five matches, but he couldn’t fully capitalize on the chances he got. This is another problem that Kolkata needs to rectify, and Rinku Singh is one of them,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

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Brutal finisher

In the IPL Rinku’s 414 runs in the last-four stage have only been bettered by Tim David (463) in the IPL since 2023, but his 201.95 strike rate even eclipses the towering Aussie (197.25). Rinku does not beam explosively like David, or MS Dhoni and Heinrich Klaasen, who have also reached the 400-run mark at the death in the same period. And yet, he frequents boundaries quicker than the sturdy trio at the death, at every 3.15 deliveries.

The 28-year-old has already translated this ballistic charge for India in the death-overs, which has contributed to 51 per cent of his career runs at an explosive 214.68 strike rate. The numbers grow otherworldly as the pressure stiffens. Rinku has already gathered 213 of his 594 career runs in the last two overs of an innings alone, striking at 287.83. The scoring rate skyrockets to 302.63 in the 20th over, the highest among all Full-Member batters who have aggregated at least 100 runs within the final-over sequence.