Who is Rinku Singh in the IPL 2023? A voyage from a fairy tale takes the ideal turn

The Cinderella tale would be ideal for Rinku Singh. The narrative of Rinku Singh, who turned down the opportunity to wash floors in favour of playing cricket, took the ideal turn on Sunday night when his five sixes in the last over helped Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Gujarat Titans.

Within the blink of an eye, Rinku became a phenomenon. All of a sudden, he was the hero that cricket was looking for. Nobody knew Rinku was this skilled with a bat, despite the fact that he was.

The official website of the IPL franchise, KKR Knight Club, cited Rinku as saying, "I have worked really hard on my game." "I simply wanted to play cricket because I felt I had no other options. All I thought about was cricket. It is currently yielding benefits.

The young man from Aligarh hasn't forgotten the key junction where he was compelled to make a choice that altered his future as he recalled his journey from obscurity to fame.

"I hadn't even begun practising for a cricket match when I was invited to work beside my brother. It was to clean a teaching centre's floor. He smiles and replies, "I declined. "Despite the fact that I lacked academic support, I chose cricket."

Even though their father, a hawker, was adamantly opposed to it, all five of the brothers participated in the game.

Rinku remembers, "Father would smack us if he spotted us playing cricket. Mother provided some help. In order for Rinku to travel to Kanpur for a tournament, Rinku's mother really obtained a Rs 1000 loan from a nearby business.

Wherever he played, Rinku's brilliance was recognized, and many people stepped up to provide a hand. He lists off the names of persons who gave him assistance at various points in his career with a rustic politeness.

"I would train in a government stadium because it didn't cost a lot of money. I simply needed to have a card created in my name.

He tried out for the UP state U-16 trials in 2010–2011, however he was unsuccessful.

"I didn't know what it was or what it meant to play at the state level."

He returned to the trials the next year having gained much more insight into what being chosen would entail for him. He made the cut this time and started running right away. From there, things "only moved up," recalls Rinku. Even greater was his U19 debut.

"I participated in the Ranji Trophy that year alone and performed rather well. I felt like I could play for India because of it.

He participated in a school competition at this time and won the championship, earning a motorbike in the process.

"My dad came to see the championship. He must have seen I was making a decent effort because he never struck me for playing cricket again.

Rinku made his IPL debut in 2017 for Punjab for Rs 10 lakh, but his fairytale moment arrived when KKR selected him the following year for Rs 80 lakh.

He claims that "no one in my family had ever seen so much money." We could even be able to pay off our debt and purchase a home.

It may be noted that Rahul Tewatia, who strangely is a member of the Gujarat Titans team this year, also hit five sixes in a single over in 2020, putting him in the running to represent India. Will Rinku's sixes result in similar luck?

Whether that occurs or not will depend on time, but bowlers everywhere will begin to take Rinku more seriously.