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Rinku’s magnificent knock was peppered with seven fours and eight towering sixes, at a breathtaking strike rate of 225
Rinku Singh smashed an unbeaten 108 against Gorakhpur Lions in the UPT20
Rinku Singh justified his Asia Cup selection with a blazing hundred on Thursday in the ongoing UPT20 in Lucknow. The Meerut Mavericks skipper smashed as many as 8 sixes during his 48-ball stint at the crease, guiding his team to a 6-wicket win against Dhruv Jurel’s Gaur Gorakhpur Lions at the Ekana Stadium.
Rinku smashed an unbeaten 108 as Meerut successfully chased down 168 with 7 balls to spare. In the penultimate over, he hammered a hat-trick of sixes off Gorakhpur bowler Vasu Vats to notch up the triple figures off just 45 balls. Rinku’s magnificent knock was peppered with seven fours and eight towering sixes, at a breathtaking strike rate of 225. His heroics powered Meerut to the third spot on the UPT20 points table.
Earlier, Gorakhpur Lions lost opener Aryan Juyal in the very first over to Vishal Chaudhary. Skipper Dhruv Jurel (38) and Akshdeep Nath (23) steadied the innings with a 45-run stand, before Nishant Kushwaha’s 37 lifted the Lions to a competitive 167.
But Rinku aced the chase single-handedly. Jurel & Co. had no answers to his assault, which lit up the Ekana Stadium on Wednesday night.
Rinku’s knock came right after he found a spot in the 15-man squad for the Asia Cup, which begins September 9 in the UAE. However, his selection has also raised a few eyebrows, especially when the selectors didn’t consider Washington Sundar.
While addressing the media on Tuesday, chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained why Rinku was given the nod. The former pacer revealed that the selectors believed that Rinku could fulfil the requirement of an extra batter.
“He [Sundar] has always been in the scheme of things. At the moment, we have two mystery spinners/wristspinners in Varun and Kuldeep, and Axar has been around for a while. When we need four spinners, he may always be in the mix. For now, we felt we needed an extra batter in Rinku. And you could only pick 15. If there were 16, maybe he could’ve been in,” Agarkar said.
The way Rinku shut his critics on Thursday night, it’s a clear indication that he is ready for his first Asia Cup experience.
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had …Read More
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had … Read More
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