“If it was Alzarri Joseph bowling even Rinku would have known that he wouldn’t be able to hit him”: Sehwag on Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh has been in tremendous touch this IPL. He has played three consecutive breathtaking knocks for the Kolkata Knight Riders. IPL 2023 saw Rinku Singh shine like never before. In the final over of the chase in last week’s game against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star went into God mode, hitting five sixes to help his team win a 205-run chase. Today, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the UP batter scored an unbeaten knock of 58 off just 31 balls. 

The legendary Indian batsman Virender Sehwag recently made an astonishing statement about Rinku’s unprecedented performance in the IPL by equating him to players like MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar. 

Before KKR’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata began, Sehwag spoke with Cricbuzz and compared Rinku to the great Dhoni and Sachin. He said that Rinku’s presence in the KKR line-up is akin to what the two India legends were for the national side during their time.

“There is a belief in the KKR team that Rinku Singh is still there. When MS Dhoni had started finishing off games, there was a belief that Dhoni is still there. In 90s, it was if Tendulkar is there match can be won, if not then no. Now the same thing is with KKR and Rinku Singh. Before it was Andre Russell for them,” he said.

Rinku was lucky: Sehwag

Sehwag added that Rinku did experience a small amount of good fortune during that game versus GT. He claimed that hitting five sixes would have been difficult or impossible if Alzarri Joseph had bowled the final over and that it was only made possible by the mindset he adopted upon seeing Yash Dayal with the ball, who he had faced numerous times in practise matches for the Uttar Pradesh domestic team.

“You also need a bit of luck. If it was Alzarri Joseph bowling even Rinku would have known that he wouldn’t be able to hit him. But he has faced Yash Dayal all his life in the nets. So Rinku had the right mindset,” he added.

This will never happen in the history of IPL: Sehwag

But, the former Indian batter believes that he will never surpass Rinku’s record of five consecutive sixes, which he was the only player to accomplish in the final over of an IPL game.

“This has never happened in the history of cricket and Rinku Singh will never be able to do this again. This record that has happened, it might be broke, but Rinku will never in his life be able to hit 6 sixes and break that record,” he said.

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