IPL 2023: An old tube television, a two-room shack within a gas cylinder stockyard, and a bike Rinku Singh won nearly a decade ago in a school game. Khanchand Singh, a gas cylinder delivery man and father of Kolkata Knight Riders’ man of the moment, abhors change; even if his son, one of five children, is an IPL star.
Khanchand tunes into IPL games to watch Rinku play on the old TV set, and refuses to move to his cricketer-son’s three-storey house in Rambagh colony. The bike has sentimental value because it made Khanchand’s life easier as he could haul gas cylinders on it for delivery.
On Sunday, Rinku was the talk of the town after he pulled off a heist by hitting five sixes in a row off Gujarat Titans medium pacer Yash Dayal when KKR required 28 off the last five deliveries. His unbeaten 48 off just 21 balls resulted in a three-wicket win off the last ball of the match.
Till then, Rinku was known for playing cameos. Last year, he made a 15-ball 40 but ended up on the losing side against Lucknow Supergiants. On Sunday, he was the lead hero.
KKR owner and film star Shah Rukh Khan tweeted a photo-shopped picture of Rinku on the poster of the movie Pathaan and also congratulated the 25-year-old for pulling off the win.
As the world raved about his hitting skills, life in Aligarh has not changed due to his parents’ choice.
“Even today his father refuses to buy a new TV. He is happy watching IPL games on the small dabba television,” Rinku’s best friend Waseem Mirza said. “Recently, Rinku had again asked his parents to shift to the new house. But his father says that he has lived there all his life, why change the address now.”
Mirza and Rinku are inseparable when the cricketer is back home in Aligarh. Though Rinku can afford a car, he still does not have a four-wheeler licence. So the humble two-wheeler Scooty is still their mode of transport.
“Rinku is still the simpleton he always was. He is playing in the IPL but remains down to earth. He has no qualms about travelling on a two-wheeler. Actually, he still prefers it because of the traffic in Aligarh,” Mirza says.
New stardom
However, new-found fame after Sunday could make it difficult for Rinku, the only cricketer from Aligarh to play in the IPL, to hop to his favourite mughlai eating joint without being mobbed.
“I don’t know how it will be in the future. Until now, though Rinku was seen on TV, he could still move around freely. Hopefully, he won’t lose his freedom,” his friend says.
When back home, Rinku makes it a point to drop in at the gas cylinder stockyard at least once a day and spend time with his parents – Khanchand and mother Vina. The stockyard is where a young Rinku grew up and its gate is where his father would wait to give him a whack every time he came home after playing cricket. Khanchand wanted his son to move up in life and cricket back then wasn’t considered a viable career choice.
“I didn’t want them (children) to end up like me. I wanted them to study and get proper jobs. That is why I was against them playing cricket,” Khanchand had told this paper last year.
At one point, the family was struggling to make ends meet. So Rinku accompanied his brother to a coaching centre to look for a job.
Rinku recalled how he decided against taking up the job of a sweeper.
“I think this was in 2010. I had just started playing but Mummy asked me to look for a job because we had to earn money. At the coaching centre, they asked me to sweep and clean. I decided not to take it up. I came home and told Mummy that I would help the family by playing cricket,” Rinku had said.
Mirza says what has helped Rinku overcome hurdles is his attitude. “Whatever he is going through and however tough the circumstances are, Rinku always remains positive. Win or lose, Rinku’s attitude is always the same: always smiling.”
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