Rinku Singh was a notable absentee from India's squad.
Why is Rinku Singh not in India squad for South Africa T20Is? This has been a trending question since BCCI announced the team yesterday, with Rinku not included.
One reasonable answer to the question ‘Why is Rinku Singh not in India squad?’ is the team combination and how they have played under Gautam Gambhir. The current management has employed more all-rounders and preferred Washington Sundar, who has slowly become an all-format player.
ALSO READ:
In Australia, Sundar showed his improved pace-hitting abilities after a promotion and can also be effective as a bowler on Indian surfaces, even though the management has been reluctant to use his bowling expertise. With the next T20 World Cup in India, they want to have as many all-rounders as possible, a philosophy Gambhir has adopted right from the start.
Then, there’s also Axar Patel and two pace-bowling all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, in the squad. Unfortunately, Rinku Singh doesn’t contribute enough with the ball, even though he has worked on this aspect lately, and India get more flexibility with Sundar.
Rinku hardly had opportunities in the XI even when he was in the squad, and his exclusion was always on cards once Pandya regained full fitness. It’s unfair to him since he has performed at every opportunity, but management has been harsh on several players in the last year or so.
While Washington Sundar’s batting has been improving, he still has issues against pacers, while Hardik Pandya can also be confined with hard lengths into the body. Axar Patel has the same problems, and the Indian batting lineup can be found wanting against high-end pace attacks.
Rinku Singh has been their proven pace hitter in the last couple of years and clearly has a higher ceiling than the other mentioned names. He could have acted as a shield for Pandya and Axar by batting in the lower middle order since he has the power to whack back-of-a-length deliveries and slower ones with a stable base.
The current strategy might work against lower-quality attacks, but several teams can restrict their free-flowing batting tempo with suitable pacers. For instance, India ended with a below-par score against South Africa in the second ODI in Raipur, where the opponent pacers mixed their variations in death overs.
Ideally, they need two power hitters in the squad, but the current selection involves none. While management might have answers for the question ‘Why is Rinku Singh not in India squad?’, his non-selection could backfire in the mega event.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
