Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Abhishek Nayar urged the Indian team management to play Rinku Singh instead of Sanju Samson in the team if they are looking to utilise him at the No.5 or No.6 spot as the wicketkeeper-batter is more suitable to play at the top of the order for India.
Sanju Samson usually bats at the top of the order in IPL and domestic cricket but is largely seen as a finisher in the Indian team. The right-handed batter could not make an impact with the bat, as he failed to use the opportunity to score runs in the five-match series against West Indies.
Speaking at the Jiocinema, Abhishek Nayar urged the team management to play Sanju Samson at the No.3 position for India else wants them to try Rinku Singh instead of him in the finisher role for the team and feels that the Indian wicket-keeper batter wants time to settle down in the middle before taking on the bowlers.
“I believe if you want to utilize Sanju Samson more, bat him at No. 3 because that is his number. He is used to that and he is successful there, or else don’t play him.
“If you are going to play him at No. 5 or No. 6, play Rinku Singh instead. If you play Samson in the top three, you will get more out of him because he plays shots in the powerplay and then plays the spinners. So I believe it, not the right place but he will get opportunities,” Abhishek Nayar said
The 28-year-old has been regarded as generational talent in Indian Cricket but has not got any consistent opportunity for the Indian team at the highest level and the batter has not utilized the opportunity to cash in T20 cricket as he averages 18.5 in the 22 matches for India in the shorted format of the game.
I Say It Clearly Without Any Bias Is Rinku Singh -Abhishek Nayar
Abhishek Nayar feels that Rinku Singh has the capability of the playing role of the finisher in the Indian team following his brilliance for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023 and reckons that he needs to be backed by the team management and asserted that the role of the finisher is tough as they would more failures than success and believes that left-hander finisher is the right man for the job.
“Being a finisher is very tough and you’ll have more failures than success while taking that responsibility. It requires a lot of experience. Tilak Varma has proved his mettle up the order and he is terrific at number 4 but the only name that comes to my mind and I say it clearly without any bias is Rinku Singh,” Abhishek Nayar added.
Rinku Singh had served them as the finisher of the team, winning the games single-handedly for his side in IPL 2023, and would like to do well for the Indian team in the Ireland series.