Kolkata Knight Riders' talented youngster Rinku Singh has been the talk of the town even since he hit five sixes off final five balls of the final over to secure a memorable win for the two-time IPL winners KKR against defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Sunday (April 9). Kolkata Knight Riders needed 29 runs of the 20th over for the win. The final over was bowled by Gujarat pacer Yash Dayal. On the first ball of 20th over, Umesh Yadav took a quick single to make sure Riku gets the strike who them hit five consecutive sixes to script history, leading Kolkata to a thrilling win.
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In a chat Kolkata Knight Riders team after the win, head coach Chandrakant Pandit praised Umesh Yadav for giving the strike to Rinku Singh on first ball of the final over, allowing the star batter to put fireworks on the display.
"In 43 years of my cricket career, being a coach, playing cricket, first-class cricket, and international, I've previously seen two innings. One from Ravi Shastri, scoring 6 sixes in the Ranji Trophy and the second was the last ball sixes from Javed Miandad in Dubai. And after that, I am seeing you," said KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit, before everyone started clapping.
"So, somebody had scored one run in the first ball of the last over," Pandit said.
Rinku Singh opened up about his mindset during 20th over against Gujarat Titans, revealing that Umesh had advised him not to think much.
"To be honest I was not thinking much. Just reacting to every ball. I had the inner belief that I can do it because I had also played [a similar] innings last year against Lucknow [Super Giants]. There also I had such a belief and today, too, I showed that belief. Rana bhai told me: "belief rakhiyo, aakhri tak kheliyo (keep the belief, stay till the end). Bhaiya (Umesh) also told me, 'laga Rinku, sochiyo mat (hit it, don't think)," Rinku Singh said in a post-match presentation.