Despite India putting up a huge score of 202 in the opening T20I against South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban, the former opening batter of the Blue Brigade, Aakash Chopra, has criticized the batting position of Rinku Singh, who came at number six and could smash only 11 runs in ten deliveries.
The left-handed batter was retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a price of INR 13 crore. He has clubbed 490 T20I runs in 20 innings at an average of 54.44 and a strike rate of over 170, with the help of three half-centuries.
Aakash Chopra feels that the Uttar Pradesh-born hasn’t been treated fairly by the team management in the encounter, that they went on to win by a huge margin of 61 runs.
“Are we being fair to Rinku? It’s a very important question. Why am I asking this question? You kept him in the team first, he is your original choice player. He was in your team against Bangladesh, and before that as well. Whenever you have sent him up the order, or he has got to bat in the powerplay, he has scored runs every time.” The renowned commentator expressed this in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
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The batter has earned so much success in the lower middle order for the purple franchise as he nailed 474 runs in the 2023 season of the tournament at a strike rate of around 150. In 2024, he cracked 168 runs at a low average of 18.66, but the strike rate was nearly the same.
“He has scored a half-century every time. He has emerged as a crisis man. He scored those half-centuries at very good strike rates. So this was that opportunity. Why don’t you send him to No. 4? What is the reason that you only send Rinku down the order, always at No. 6?” Aakash Chopra expressed.
Aakash Chopra desires to see Rinku Singh batting at number 4 in T20Is
In his IPL career, Rinku has batted 11 times at the number five position, collecting 381 runs at an average of 54.43 and a strike rate of 146.54. The youngster has smacked 256 T20I runs at the same position with a strike rate of 174.15.
Chopra reckoned that despite earning the fame of the finisher, the batter has displayed his skills of structuring the inning, coming at number four, as he is not a power-hitting like Andre Russell or Hardik Pandya.
“I am asking this question only because Rinku can finish, but he is not just a finisher. This is my understanding. I feel he knows how to drive the game. He is hitting sixes, but he is not someone who muscles the ball. He is not Andre Russell, and he is not Hardik Pandya as well.” Aakash Chopra highlighted this in the discussion.
KKR saw the potential in him and decided to retain him for the IPL 2025 season. They can use him in the middle order, which will also drive the batter to flourish more in the future.
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The commentator claimed that Tilak Verma could have been dropped down to the sixth position to help the batter at the number four place in the batting department.
“He tries to score runs with timing, and then he makes the most of whatever he has. I feel you could have played him at No. 4 in Durban. You could have done that in this entire series and moved Tilak Varma down because someone has to go at No. 6.” Aakash Chopra concluded.
The second game of the series will take place at St. George’s Park on November 10.