Rinku Khanchand Singh (born 12 October 1997) is an Indian international

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who plays for the

Indian national cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

. He made his International debut in August 2023 against

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in at Village. He plays for

Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders p ...

in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

(IPL) and for

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

in domestic cricket. He is a left-handed

middle order In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., i ...

batsman and a right-handed

off-spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

ner. He is best known for his innings on 9 April 2023, where he helped his franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders, defeat the

Gujarat Titans Gujarat Titans is a franchise cricket team based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The Titans compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2021, Gujarat Titans' home ground is Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera. The franchise is owned by CVC ...

by hitting 5 consecutive sixes in the last 5 balls of the last over of the match.

Early life

Rinku Singh, the third among five siblings, was born into a poor family. His father, Khanchandra Singh, worked in an LPG distribution company. During his early years, Singh lived in a two-room quarter near Aligarh Stadium in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

. This accommodation was provided by his father's employers.

Domestic career

Rinku Singh represented Uttar Pradesh at the Under-16, Under-19 and Under-23 levels and Central Zone at the Under-19 level. He made his

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for Uttar Pradesh in March 2014 at the age of 16 and top-scored with 83 in that match. He made his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh in the

2016–17 Ranji Trophy The 2016–17 Ranji Trophy was the 83rd season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. Unlike previous seasons, the 2016–17 tournament was played at neutral venues. Captains and coaches were supportive of the ...

on 5 November 2016. He was the leading run-scorer for Uttar Pradesh in the group-stage of the

2018–19 Ranji Trophy The 2018–19 Ranji Trophy was the 85th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between November 2018 and February 2019. Vidarbha were the defending champions. The final took place between ...

, with 803 runs in nine matches. He finished the tournament with 953 runs in ten matches.

Indian Premier League

In February 2017, he was bought by the

Kings XI Punjab Punjab Kings (PBKS) are a franchise cricket team based in Mohali, Punjab, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Established in 2008 as the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), the franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zi ...

team for the

2017 Indian Premier League The 2017 season of the Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 10 and branded as Vivo IPL 2017, was the tenth edition of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the BCCI in 2007. The tournament featured the eight teams ...

. In January 2018, he was bought with the worth of 80 lakh by the

in the

2018 IPL auction This is a list of all personnel changes for the 2018 Indian Premier League. This was the third season to have all players, apart from a selection of retained players, return to the auction pool (first in 2011, second in 2014) Player retention ...

. Rinku was ruled out of the

2021 Indian Premier League The 2021 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 14, or for sponsorship reasons, Vivo IPL 2021, was the fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cric ...

due to a knee injury and he was later replaced by

Gurkeerat Singh Mann Gurkeerat Singh Mann (born 29 June 1990) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays for Punjab in domestic cricket. A right-handed batsman and off break bowler, he is a member of the Gujarat Titans in IPL and a regular in India A team. Singh ...

. In February 2022, he was bought by the

in the

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

for the

2022 Indian Premier League The 2022 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 15 or for sponsorship reasons, Tata IPL 2022, was the fifteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricke ...

tournament. In this year's tournament match, he got his first Man of the Match award with a cheque of one lakh for 42 runs in 23 balls with a strike-rate of 182.61 against

Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals (often abbreviated as RR) are a franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight IPL franchises, the team is based at the Sawai Ma ...

. On 9 April 2023, Rinku achieved a record-breaking feat in an IPL match against

, smashing 5 sixes in the final over to successfully chase down 29 runs - the highest-ever chase in the last over in the IPL tournament's history.

International career

In August 2023, he made his international debut in the first T20I against Ireland at The Village. On 23 November 2023, he played an unbeaten match-winning inning of 22 runs off 14 against Australia in the first T20I at Vishakhapatnam. Again on 26 November 2023, he played an unbeaten inning of 31 runs off just 9 balls against Australia in the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram.

Suspension

On 30 May 2019, Singh was given a three-month suspension by the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

(BCCI) after he took part in the Ramadan T20 Tournament in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

without seeking prior permission to play.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Rinku 1997 births Living people Indian cricketers Uttar Pradesh cricketers India Twenty20 International cricketers Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers Sportspeople from Aligarh Cricketers from Uttar Pradesh Asian Games medalists in cricket Cricketers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games