At one stage, he was struggling at 25 off 33 balls.
Kolkata Knight Riders star shines in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) T20 League 2025 with a match-winning innings representing the Meerut Mavericks against the Kashi Rudras at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
In the match, the Meerut Mavericks batted second while chasing 136 runs in 20 overs.They lost three early wickets in the powerplay and were struggling at 26/3 in 5.1 overs, still needing 110 runs. Then skipper Rinku Singh came in at No.5 and, with Madhav Kaushik, put together an unbeaten 113-run stand to win the game.
Rinku Singh was the star, scoring 78* off 48 balls with six fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 162.50. He stayed till the end and made sure Meerut won comfortably. At one stage, Rinku was struggling at 25 off 33 balls, but he shifted gears brilliantly, smashing 53 runs off the next 15 balls, including five fours and five sixes, to finish the match in style. The Meerut Mavericks won by seven wickets with 26 balls to spare. Madhav Kaushik also contributed with an unbeaten 34*.
Earlier, the Kashi Rudras were restricted to 135/8 in their 20 overs. For Meerut, Kartik Tyagi was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets. Vijay Kumar claimed two wickets, while Vishal Chaudhary and Yash Garg picked up one wicket each.
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Rinku Singh is likely to be one of the players retained ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026 auction. Retained for INR 30 crore before the IPL 2025 season, Rinku had a disappointing season with the bat as he could only score 206 runs in 11 innings. His last two IPL seasons have not gone as he hoped, mainly because of KKR’s constant changes in his batting order.
One thing is certain, if he gets a fixed batting position he will flourish, just like he has been doing in the UP T20 League where he has scored 295 runs in seven innings at an average of 59.00 and a strike rate of 170.52. He has been in very good form with the bat. This season he has also added a new dimension by using his part time spin bowling, picking up a few wickets in the tournament.
With the Asia Cup coming up and Rinku part of the squad, he will be hoping to put in better performances and strengthen his chances of being retained ahead of the auction.
