As games and sports lover, I normally watch cricket and other my favourite games and sports. Presently Indian Premiere League (IPL) is going on which I am enjoying. On April 9, 2023, while watching Gujrat Titans (GT) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) match held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, I was fascinated to observe wonderful batting by a budding genius cricketer originally from Uttar Pradesh Rinku Singh, played for KKR. The match came to a dramatic end at the stadium because Kolkata Knight Riders needed 29 runs to win against Gujarat Titans in the last over (20 overs match) which was almost impossible for KKR but Rinku Singh made it possible by hitting five sixes in five balls in a row. He has become the hero of victory overnight.
He was born on October 12, 1997, in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh and he is the third of five siblings. He hails from an ordinary family as his father supplies LPG gas cylinders door to door as a worker and one elder brother ekes out his livelihood by driving an auto. So, the family was not economically sound and from his childhood, he struggled. Rinku was not good in education also as he was a dropout after class 9th standard. In spite of all these, Rinku was a great cricket lover and used to play cricket. In his teenage, he was employed as a sweeper by his elder brother to earn income for their family, Rinku did not like it as he desired to be a cricketer. At the age of 17 (2014), he got the opportunity to play for the first time in the Uttar Pradesh state cricket team. After that, Rinku was introduced in first-class cricket on November 5, 2016. He scored four fifties in the seven matches and in those days many predicted ‘he is the budding genius cricketer’. This left-handed batsman scored 91 runs off 44 balls against Tripura in Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2018. In 2017, Rinku was bought by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 10 lakh, however, he did not get a chance to play in the tournament so he could not bat in any match. In 2018, Rinku was bought by KKR for Rs. 80 lakh. Since then, he has been with the KKR team. According to various media sources, Rinku’s total assets are around Rs. six crore and he has become a millionaire by playing IPL. Wishing the cricketer, a bright future with more and more laurels.
(Basic inputs collected from anandabazar.com/photogallery/kolkata-night-riders, 10 April 2023).
(Rinku with his father and mother)
