“The way he is going right now is unbelievable” - Rahmanullah Gurbaz confident of Rinku Singh carrying forward Dhoni, Yuvraj legacy
Afghanistan’s explosive keeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz is confident of Rinku Singh carrying forward the legacy of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh as a finisher in white ball cricket. Gurbaz described his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate as someone who is hungry and very hard-working.
26-year-old Rinku has made a fantastic start to his T20I career. In 11 innings, he has smashed 356 runs at an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23 with two half-centuries.
In an interaction with Sports Tak, Gurbaz was asked whether he believes Rinku has it in him to take forward the legacy of the likes of Dhoni and Yuvraj. He asserted:
"Of course, he can. The way he is going right now is unbelievable. If you see his recent performances in the Indian team, against every side he performs really well. It shows that he is young and he proved that ' I am here for something and not just be in the team and go out'. He is hungry and always working hard, and that's a good thing about him.”
Praising the Indian left-hander, the 22-year-old added that he is a clever cricketer, who is adept at adjusting to varied conditions.
"No doubt he is a really good cricketer and a really good finisher. The most important thing in him, whenever he comes to bat he tries to watch the ball. Always a batter is looking to hit. He is a clever cricketer. He is the one who can adjust to the conditions really soon. He can be the next finisher for India and he will be a good cricketer for their team as well," Gurbaz stated.
Rinku smashed 69* off 39 in the third T20I against Afghanistan recently in Bengaluru, adding 190* for the fifth wicket with Rohit Sharma (121* off 69).
“Rinku is the salt of our team” - Gurbaz on KKR teammate
Recently, a video of Gurbaz and Rinku went viral on social media. The latter was asleep on a flight and the Afghanistan keeper went and poked in his nose as part of a prank. Rinku woke up and reacted with a smile.
Speaking about Rinku as a person and the camaraderie the two share as KKR teammates, Gurbaz said:
"Rinku is the salt of our team. He is the kind of person who makes everyone happy. He is really funny guy, great guy. I really love him. We have a great friendship. We do keep in touch outside of the IPL also."
Gurbaz has played 35 ODIs and 49 T20Is for Afghanistan, scoring 1,238 and 1,271 runs respectively.