India head coach Rahul Dravid has hailed Rinku Singh’s maturity and calmness following India’s nail-biting win over Afghanistan at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. India beat Afghanistan in the second Super Over to clean-sweep the three-match T20I series 3-0.
IND vs AFG, 3rd T20I Highlights
Rinku scored an unbeaten 69 off 39 deliveries, smashing two boundaries and six maximums to guide India to 212 for 4 in 20 overs. Afghanistan levelled the score, forcing the match into a Super Over. Both sides scored 16 runs in the first Super Over, taking the contest to the second Super Over, where India scored 11 runs before bowling out the visitors for 1 run.
Speaking to Sports18 after the match, Dravid said Rinku showed maturity and calmness, insisting that it was good to see him challenged in a different match situation. Rinku came in to bat with India reeling at 22 for 4. The left-handed batter stitched an unbeaten 190-run stand with captain Rohit Sharma to take India to a fighting total.
“Yeah, he’s been terrific. For someone who is just starting off his career in international cricket, started off in August or September, it’s just been a few months. But the maturity and calmness he’s showing, we’ve always seen him come at the back end of the innings and finish games off but today was a great test for him to come in at 22 for 4 and just build that partnership and show what he can do at the back end,” said Dravid.
He went on to say that Rinku is very clear about what his strengths are and where he needs to improve. Rinku broke into the Indian team following a brilliant IPL 2023 and has gone on to score 356 runs in 11 innings at an average of 89 while striking at 176.23.
“It’s really good for us to see that and he’s very clear. One of the good things about Rinku is that he’s very clear about his skills, what he knows, what his strengths are, what he needs to work on, and how he needs to go about it,” Dravid added.
With this win, India extended their unbeaten run against Afghanistan in T20I cricket to 6-0. India will now gear up for a crucial five-match Test series against England, starting January 25.
