New Delhi: Explosive batter Rinku Singh has been named Uttar Pradesh skipper for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024. India’s premier 50-over domestic tournament is beginning on December 21, Saturday. Rinku will take leadership responsibilities from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was the captain of the side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that concluded last week, where they lost to Delhi in the quarter-final.
It’s a massive moment in Rinku’s career as the left-handed batter will be leading a state team at the senior level for the first time. Earlier this year, Meerut Mavericks won the UPT20 League title under his leadership. Rinku, who scored 210 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.54, played as a finisher in the tournament.
Rinku’s promotion as the captain of the state team comes at a time when his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders is pondering over captaincy candidates ahead of IPL 2025. Rinku, who has been a KKR player since 2018, was retained ahead of the mega auction in November, along with Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy and Ramandeep Singh.
“I am not thinking too much about the captaincy of KKR in the new IPL season,” Rinku said ahead of UP’s Vijay Hazare opener.
Rinku aiming to impress the selectors
Like several other players, Rinku would be eager to impress the national selectors in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which will act as an audition for the players for the 2025 Champions Trophy in February.
While Rinku has established himself in India’s T20I set-up, he is yet to cement his spot in One-Day Internationals. Rinku has played just two ODIs after making his debut a year ago in South Africa.
Rinku has an impressive record in List A cricket (50-over domestic cricket). The left-handed batter has amassed 1899 runs in 52 innings at an average of 48.69 and a Strike Rate of 94.8. He has notched up one hundred and 17 half-centuries so far.
Rinku Singh’s promotion as the captain of the state team comes at a time when his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders is pondering over captaincy candidates ahead of IPL 2025 Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
