“Cricket skill rather than Instagram probability”: BCCI defeats Rinku Singh T20 in World Cup

The omission of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Rinku Singh from the 2024 World Cup T20 squad has led to many question marks being raised over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee. Rinku, who has barely made a mistake since making his India debut last year, has paid the price of the Impact Substitute Rule in the Indian Premier League. Seeing Rinku being overlooked in the 15-player list, former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu criticized the BCCI selectors for the decision, saying they should prefer one player’s cricketing ability over another’s Instagram likeability.

In his scathing criticism of the selection committee, Rayudu wrote: “The omission of Rinku Singh clearly indicates the rule of statistics on the sense of cricket.. who in this selected Indian came out on 16th and 17th in a t20 game in the last 2 years and playing fluently with a high strike rate and can win a game except Ravindra Jadeja.. he is a big miss.. quality should come before quantity and most importantly cricket skill should come before Instagram likeability .

The omission of Rinku Singh clearly indicates the rule of statistics about the meaning of cricket. game except Ravindra Jadeja.. he…

-ATR (@RayuduAmbati) May 1, 2024

Although not part of the 15-man squad, Rinku has been included as a reserve player alongside Shubman Gill, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

Rayudu is not the only one who was unimpressed by Rinku’s absence. Even former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has stated that Rinku should have been included in the team as he possesses the ability to change the complexion of the game on his own.

“I think Rinku Singh should have been included in the team, one player who has the potential to change the game single-handedly and was not included in the team is Rinku,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

Rinku made his Team India debut last year on the back of exemplary IPL form. He hit 474 runs in 14 matches at an impressive strike rate of 149.53 and a batting average of 59.25.

However, this season he has kept his strike rate high but has struggled to gather runs. In nine matches, the left-handed batsman scored 123 runs at an average of 20.50.

With ANI inputs