Rinku Singh’s father makes shocking remarks on his T20 WC snub

Attacking batter Rinku Singh’s father revealed the first reaction of his son following the 26-year-old cricketer’s axing from India’s T20 World Cup squad this week.

Rinku Singh’s father Khanchandra Singh disclosed that their entire family was “unhappy” over the issue while his son was left heartbroken with the decision of the Indian selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar.

“Umeedein to bohot thi aur isliye thoda dukh bhi hai. Hum mithai, patakhe laye the, socha that wo 11 mein khelega. (There was hope and that is why there is a bit of sadness. We brought sweets, crackers to celebrate, we thought Rinku would play in the first eleven),” Rinku Singh’s father said in an interaction with Bharat 24.

“Uska dil toh tuta hai. Usne apni maa se baat ki aur bataya ki uska naam nahi hai 11 ya 15 mein. Lekin bataya hain ke wo jaa raha hain (He is heartbroken. He spoke to his mother and told her that he was not picked in the 11 or 15. But he also said that he will be traveling with the team,” he added.

The legendary K Srikkanth described the move to omit Rinku Singh’s name from the side that would travel to the Caribbean as “rubbish.” He suggested that the left-handed batter was being made a scapegoat.

“I am not at all happy. C’mon all of you. Rinku Singh has been spoken about all over the world. He has performed in each and every opportunity he has got. How can you drop Rinku Singh? You drop anyone else, it doesn’t matter. In my view, Rinku Singh should have been there, even if that meant you had to drop Yashasvi Jaiswal,” K Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

“He has played match-winning knocks in South Africa. Remember the game against Afghanistan in which Rohit scored a hundred? India were 22 for 4, from there, they scored 212. Rinku played a crucial Knock. He has given his all whenever he played for India. This is rubbish, rubbish selection. Why do you need 4 spinners? All of them have to go? You have made the selection to please a few people and you have made Rinku Singh a scapegoat,” he elaborated.

Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop expressed his “surprise” over Rinku Singh’s omission.

“So, if you’re talking about surprises, I think Rinku Singh has done enough in international cricket. He averages well over 60 or 70 in T20Is to hold a place in the 15. So, that’s the only thing that had my ears sticking up. So I’m only saying that the extra spinner, someone like Axar (Patel), has been preferred to Rinku,” Ian Bishop told Star Sports.

“Like all teams, India can only pick 15 from their immense talent-pool, especially their batting talent. Its therefore heartwarming to see the outpouring of encouragement for Rinku Singh. Hopefully get a chance at a World Cup at some point in the future,” he opined.

The 26-year-old was widely tipped to take over MS Dhoni’s “finisher” role in India’s T20 World Cup line-up but failed to sneak into the 15-men squad as India’s selectors went with time-tested performers like Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja.

In 15 games for Team India, Rinku Singh has made 356 runs at a stunning average of 89 and an equally impressive strike-rate of 176.23. His 356 runs include two fifties and a top score of unbeaten 69.

Speaking about his Indian Premier League (IPL) numbers, Rinku Singh has scored 848 runs in 40 matches in the competition within his short but highly impactful career.

While his overall average in the IPL stands at 32.62, it is his strike-rate (143.24), that has often hogged the limelight.

But in the 2024 edition of the IPL, Rinku Singh hasn’t been at his complete best, averaging 20.50 in the nine matches he has played for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) so far, which seems to have hurt his chances of making it to the Indian cricket team for the T20 World Cup.

1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar reckoned that the selectors would have decided against picking him because of his under-par showing in the 2024 IPL.

“Maybe his form in this particular edition of the IPL hasn’t been great. He hasn’t had that many opportunities, maybe that’s the reason why they’ve (selectors) not picked him,” Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Today.

India Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan