In the world of Harry Potter, a boggart is an amortal non-being that takes the shape of the thing the observer fears the most. If Rinku Singh were to spot one of those, it would look like a spinner in the middle overs of a T20 game.
On Sunday, it didn’t look good for Rinku at all. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were staring at a sixth defeat in six completed games. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi and Yash Raj Punia were operating on a spin-friendly surface at Eden Gardens, and the team had slid to 85 for 6 in 13-and-a-half overs, with ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster giving them less than 10% chance of earning their first win. Rinku was on 12 from 13 balls.
Jadeja and Bishnoi were both tantalising match-ups for Rinku, but with the ball gripping on occasion and skidding through at other times, he had scored just eight off his first eight balls. Off his ninth, Rinku looked for a release shot against Jadeja. He miscued it altogether and was resigned to his fate before seeing Nandre Burger shell it at short third.
“Sometimes the mind just doesn’t work when you’re struggling,” Rinku said candidly after the game about that moment. But he was given a life, and in the opinion of Rajasthan Royals (RR) batting coach Vikram Rathour, that was also the “turning point of the game”. He didn’t try anything fancy against Jadeja after that, letting him finish with 3-0-8-2. Against the legspin of Punia, he navigated his way with dabs and flicks.
But when Riyan Parag turned to his own part-time spin in an attempt to stifle Rinku further, Rinku attacked, successfully, for the first time in his 16-ball stay thus far.
That first boundary from Rinku’s bat came in the middle of the 15th over when Parag went full outside off. After a few sighters from the part-timer, Rinku charged down and smacked him over his head.
One boundary wasn’t enough to shift momentum, but the target of 157 meant KKR were never entirely out of it. Alongside Anukul Roy – more accustomed to patrolling the boundary in Rinku’s company than building a chase – Rinku had done the hard work of getting through the phase that has repeatedly stalled him. Even as calls grow for more from Rinku the batter, he remains one of the most highly rated finishers in the IPL, and he carried that role into the final five overs here.
Remarkably, Parag did not bowl Jadeja out, instead turning to Bishnoi for the 16th over, and that’s when Rinku pounced. The first ball landed full on middle stump and he slog-swept it for six. Anukul bookended the over with another six, and KKR took 19.
And then, with four overs of pace to follow, the game moved into Rinku’s happy territory. Jofra Archer’s first ball of the 17th, a searing short delivery, was pulled for four. One wide later, Rinku lofted a length ball over mid-off, and the 12-run over swung the game KKR’s way.
Brijesh Sharma‘s 18th over did briefly check KKR. Two full balls close to leg stump were missed by Rinku and not called wides by umpire Kumar Dharmasena. Rinku wanted a review but KKR had already burnt them all. A frustrated push brought a single, but a leg-bye four from Anukul ensured they got something from the over.
With 21 needed off 12 and a nervous KKR bench watching on, Archer returned for the 19th, but Rinku barely got strike. Instead, Anukul capitalised, dispatching a slot ball for six. Rinku, meanwhile, ran hard to keep the equation moving, bringing it down to single digits for the final over.
Parag could have gone for Burger, but opted to trust the inexperienced Brijesh instead. And it worked for Rinku. First, a boundary through deep square-leg, and then another through extra cover. A hooked six over fine leg finished the chase and brought life into a campaign that had looked buried 30 minutes earlier, and has been for almost the whole of the IPL so far.
“My mindset was to take the game till the end,” a beaming Rinku said. “I was having conversations with the coach and also with Anukul. The idea was to take it deep since the match was in a tricky situation. Thankfully, luck was on my side [when the catch went down]. That [putting in a winning performance] was in my mind as well. I had played quite a few innings and was waiting for a big one. This was a very good innings for me and also very important for my confidence.”
Rinku’s unbeaten 53 was his first IPL half-century since the start of the 2024 season and not only kept KKR’s season alive, but showed what he can add to the KKR middle order when he gets through the phase that has so often stalled him. It wasn’t a perfect innings, but he fought through it, and somewhere in there, the boggart stopped looking quite so frightening.
