“I wasn’t selected because I didn’t play that well” – Rinku Singh opens up on his snub from Duleep Trophy squads

Indian batter Rinku Singh has opened up about his omission from the Duleep trophy squads, which was recently picked up by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel. Singh admitted he played only a few matches in the domestic circuit and could not get big runs, which led to his snub. 

Singh has scored 3173 runs in 47 first-class matches at an average of 54.70 and thus his absence from Duleep trophy squads was surprising.

“Nothing…I didn’t perform that well (in the domestic season). I didn’t play many matches in the Ranji Trophy…I played 2-3 matches. I wasn’t selected because I didn’t play that well. I might get selected for next-round matches,” Rinku told Sportstak.

Meanwhile, Singh has made a name for himself as a finisher in T20Is. Furthermore, he is a livewire on the field and mostly saves extra runs for the team.

Singh was part of India’s reserves for the T20 World Cup 2024 and many experts felt he was unlucky to miss out on the squad. The left-hander scored 60 runs in four innings in the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe after the T20 World Cup triumph.

Singh also bowled a fine penultimate over in the third T20I against Sri Lanka, conceding only three runs and taking two wickets to help India take the match into Super Over.

Rinku Singh scored 474 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2023 at an average of 59.23 and a strike rate of 149.53 and he was one of the biggest positives for KKR. The southpaw also scored four fifties in the season for KKR and thus he was able to break into India’s T20I team.

Singh has done a consistent job for the team and he will look to keep up the good show.