Rinku Singh finds form before Asia Cup, hits rapid hundred in UP T20 League

One-man show Rinku Singh pulled off an incredible chase in the UP T20 League on Thursday, August 21. Playing for Meerut Mavericks, Rinku hit a blazing hundred to help his team chase down a target of 168 runs against Gaur Gorakhpur Lions.

Meerut were in deep trouble while chasing a modest target of 168 runs in the match played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. At 4 wickets down for just 38 runs in the 8th over, it looked like Meerut's fate had been sealed.

However, captain Rinku Singh put up a heroic fight with Sahab Yuvraj (22* off 22), smashing a terrific century. He finished off the game in the 19th over, remaining not out at 108 off 48 balls. The left-hander hit 7 boundaries and 8 sixes in his innings. Out of the 8 sixes, 5 came off his last six balls, where he took apart Abdul Rehman and Vasu Vats in the 18th and 19th over, respectively.

This was Rinku Singh's maiden T20 hundred of his career, and it perhaps came at the right time. The batter is at risk of being sidelined from the Indian playing XI for the Asia Cup after a string of poor performances in the recent past.

Rinku Singh's T20I Career So Far

Rinku Singh’s T20I career so far can almost be split into two contrasting halves. The first half was a dream run, a golden phase where everything he touched seemed to turn into runs. Until the T20I series against Bangladesh last year, Rinku’s numbers were nothing short of phenomenal — 479 runs from 19 innings at an average of 59.87 and a staggering strike rate of 175.45, with three fifties to his name.

Since that high, Rinku has struggled to rediscover his rhythm, and the slump has been glaring. In India’s last two bilateral T20I series against South Africa and England, he endured a nightmare.

Across seven games, the left-hander managed just 67 runs at a meager average of 13.40, with his strike rate plummeting to an underwhelming 101.51. The South Africa tour was especially painful to watch, with Rinku scraping together only 28 runs at an average of 9.33, striking at a disastrous 82.35.

The main problem behind Rinku's dip in form has been his position at Kolkata Knight Riders.

With the IPL allowing for substitutions in their line-up, it has seldom occurred that Rinku has come out to bat at No. 4 or 5.

In only one game during IPL 2025 did Rinku bat at No. 4. In most matches, he batted at No. 6, and sometimes even found himself demoted to No. 7 and No. 8 positions in the line-up.

It was only once in IPL 2025 that Rinku played more than 20 balls. That game yielded positive results, with him scoring 36 runs at a strike rate of 144. KKR won that match.

The game after that, Rinku once again lit up the crowd with an innings of 19* off 10 balls against Rajasthan Royals, a game KKR won by just a single run. However, Rinku was dropped to No. 7 and No. 8 right after that.

The lack of playtime hurt his confidence in the IPL, something from which he struggled to recover.

Fans would now hope that Rinku uses this century to return to his old self. They would hope that, in the Asia Cup, Rinku manages to avoid his fate from the T20 World Cup 2024, where he did not play a single game.