The ‘Impact Player’ rule, which made IPL competitions literally a “12-a-side affair”, was unfair treatment to batsman Rinku Singh, who failed to make the Indian senior squad for the World Cup T20 as he simply didn’t get enough game time to his credit. The 26-year-old Aligarh left-hander, who captured the imagination of the cricketing world with five sixes in an over in the previous IPL, paved the way for Shivam Dube in the senior squad, while his name ended up among the reserves.
Dube came in thanks to more playing time for Chennai Super Kings during their first 10 league games.
Those who were privy to the selection meeting held in Ahmedabad on Tuesday unanimously agreed that Rinku became an easy omission from the panel because he could not be placed alongside Hardik Pandya and Dube in the same 15.
“Undoubtedly, Rinku has paid the price for the Impact Bowler Rule. He is simply unlucky. Hardik may be in poor form, but he is still India’s best bowling all-rounder and it would have been a risk to drop him , considering he is the only one who bowled,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
So how did the Impact Player Rule become Rinku’s undoing? Kolkata Knight Riders treated Rinku as a finisher and he never got a chance to bat in the top five. In eight innings before selection, he bowled just 82 balls, which equates to about 10 balls per inning.
The two Iyers – Venkatesh and captain Shreyas – along with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who is anything but a power hitter, got the majority of the overs, leaving Rinku with very little to do in the end.
One cannot blame KKR for not promoting Rinku, but truth be told, both Iyers never played for the national team. Their names weren’t even up for discussion.
In contrast, Chennai Super Kings and their astute tactician Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been making ideal use of Dube since he arrived during the 2021 season.
Dube has managed to bowl 203 balls in nine games so far for CSK. That’s about 23 balls per game – 13 more than Rinku, allowing him to hit 26 sixes, as well as 24 fours.
Rinku, in his 82 balls, hit nine fours and six sixes.
The 13 extra balls that Dube, as an Impact Player, managed made all the difference, especially on flatter decks where it was possible to hit across the line.
Rinku didn’t even get his fair share of hits on the tracks where Raghuvanshi and the Iyers consumed the most deliveries.
Dube has not been bowling his medium pacers as Dhoni has correctly judged his bowling ability to be below average and on most days he will be a fixed target for batsmen interested in long-range hitting.
Dhoni made the best use of Dube and was instrumental in bringing him to national recognition based on his core skill – powerful hits on slower decks.
Had there not been an impact player rule, it is not clear whether Dhoni and current CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad would have been able to use Dube in his current avatar.
Therefore, Rinku’s strike rate of 176 in 15 games for India until January 2024, which included two fifties, was not enough to earn him a place in the first team.
Just as Ambati Rayudu’s exclusion was one of the most unfortunate decisions ahead of the 2019 ODI World Cup, we can only hope that Rinku’s omission from the senior squad is not a harakiri in the end.
As Rinku is part of the traveling reserve, he has a chance of being among the 15 if one of the starters gets injured.
Furthermore, until May 23, selectors will not need any reason to change squads if they feel it is necessary.
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