Deodhar Trophy 2023: Rinku Singh smokes valiant 54 against EZone
Rinku Singh slammed a well-paced half-century in Central Zone's opener against East Zone in the 2023 Deodhar Trophy. The dasher came to the side's rescue following a top-order collapse. He ended up scoring 54 off 63 balls, a knock laced with a solitary boundary and a couple of maximums. It was his 17th half-century in List-A cricket. Here are his stats.
A timely knock from Rinku
CZone were struggling at 68/3 when Rinku arrived in the middle. As the Puducherry track had assistance for bowlers, the southpaw was watchful in the initial overs. However, he kept finding odd boundaries to keep the scorecard moving. He added 50-plus stands with Shivam Chaudhary (22) and Karan Sharma (32). Rinku fell prey to pacer Manisankar Murasingh soon after reaching his fifty.
A 50-plus average in First-Class cricket
In 51 List A matches, Rinku has now raced to 1,803 runs at a remarkable average of 53.02. Moreover, his strike rate in the format is over 94. Besides 17 fifties, the southpaw also owns a solitary ton. The southpaw clobbered 335 runs at an average of 67 in the last season's Vijay Hazare Trophy for his state team Uttar Pradesh.
A breakthrough IPL 2023 season
Notably, Rinku became a household name following a splendid run in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). Rinku finished IPL 2023 as Kolkata Knight Riders's (KKR) highest run-scorer, having smashed 474 runs from 14 matches at 59.25 (SR: 149.52). In the game against Gujarat Titans, he slammed Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes when KKR needed 28 off the final five balls.
Debut loading in Asian Games
Notably, Rinku has earned his maiden Team India call-up for the 2023 Asian Games, to be held in Hangzhou, China, in September-October. The southpaw is likely to make his international debut at the event. With the ICC T20 World Cup taking place in June next year, the young dasher would be determined to make a statement in the India blue jersey.
