Amid jostle for spots in T20 set-up, Rinku standing out

India's T20 pot is suddenly brimming with left-handers. But should Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli make the final cut, there will possibly be room for only one, maybe two of them to be regulars in the World Cup playing eleven.

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There's Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, there's also fresh off his all-round star act in MohaliShivam Dube. Who's the most likely to make it? 'Rinku Singh', said Suresh Raina in commentary. How? "Jagah to banani padegi (You will have to create a space)," he said.

That was Rinku's state senior saying it. But the 26-year-old has been conveying the same message to national selectors with his consistent showings over the past twelve months that has seen him rack up an average of 69.50 in 13 T20Is at a strike-rate of 180.51.

Rinku's finishing act of 9-ball 16 not out at Mohali against Afghanistan on Thursday was just about kick-starting the new year on the right note.

His alertness to glance Mujeeb Ur Rahman away for a boundary off the first ball he faced, silken touch by opening the bat's blade against Azmatullah Omarzai for another four, above all his ice-cool temperament to close matches was there for all to see.

How good was Rinku in 2023! As if determined to payback the trust shown by Kolkata Knight Riders they picked him from obscurity in 2018 for ₹80 lakh and stood by him he got his act together by giving it all he had.

For the first three IPL seasons, Rinku had gone largely unnoticed.