India batter Rinku Singh became the subject of a hot debate on social media following his sensational unbeaten 68-run knock against South Africa in the second T20I.

 

Remarkably, Rinku Singh's 68 runs came in only 39 balls, with the aggressive batter smashing nine boundaries and two sixes during his innings.

 

Rinku Singh, regarded as the future of Team India's batting line-up, especially in T20Is, looked in supreme touch in Gqeberha and even broke the glass of the media box when he struck a monstrous six off South Africa skipper Aiden Markram.

 

Rinku Singh's mayhem against South Africa came after India's openers Yashavi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill left the pitch without troubling the scorers, getting out for a duck each.

 

Though Tilak Varma tried to steady the ship, it wasn't until India captain Suryakumar Yadav in the middle that the Men in Blue found their groove.

 

Like Rinku Singh, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav struck a whirlwind half-century against South Africa in the second T20I in Gqeberha.

 

During his explosive batting display of 56 off 36 balls, Suryakumar Yadav completed 2000 runs in T20I cricket, joining Virat Kohli as the fastest Indian to reach the milestone.

 

Virat Kohli, the leading run-scorer in T20Is, took 56 innings to touch the milestone of 2000 runs in the shortest format. Suryakumar Yadav required the same number of knocks as Virat Kohli to have 2000 T2OI runs under his name.

 

Suryakumar Yadav is the joint-third quickest to 2000 runs in T20Is behind former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his teammate Mohammed Rizwan, who got there in 52 knocks.

 

Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav follow the Pakistani duo on the list.

 

In terms of the least number of balls taken to complete 2000 T2OI runs, Suryakumar Yadav is the fastest.

 

The India batter needed 1164 balls to get to 2000 runs in T20Is, surpassing Aaron Finch of Australia, who required 1283 balls to accomplish 2000 runs.

 

Despite Suryakumar Yadav's record-breaking knock and Rinku Singh's unbeaten 68 off 39 balls, India lost the match to South Africa by five wickets after rain interrupted the game. 

 

As the D/L method brought down South Africa's target to 154/5, South Africa managed to cross the line, thanks to Reeza Hendricks' quickfire 49 off 27 balls. 

 

Nonetheless, India's attacking brand of cricket earned rich plaudits from the legendary Dale Steyn, who backed Suryakumar Yadav and his boys to make a comeback in the next match of the T20I series on Thursday.

 

“India bowled really well. They were unlucky at times. They had fielders in the right places. You saw having a second slip that showed you that the ball was doing a little bit. Um, but it's the boundaries, you know, and and and these conditions when the field is a little bit wet and that little bit of dew, it's not dew, but they're in the rain comes down, it makes the ball a little bit skid on and everything, that does make batting a little bit easier,” Dale Steyn told Star Sports.

 

“So at the end of the day, when you look back at an India probably got the wrong end of the stick. They lost the toss and then they had the ball in the more difficult conditions. It's not a game that they can really delve deep into and say we lost it here, we lost it there,” he added.

 

On the other hand, 1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar was in awe of India batter Rinku Singh, who played a crucial role in India's score of 180.

 

Though Rinku Singh's innings couldn't ensure India's win, his clean hitting impressed everyone, including Sunil Gavaskar, who compared him with India's 2011 World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh.

 

“Talent – it's not given to everybody. You can love the game. You can play all day, but sometimes you know you might not quite have the talent, but he has the belief that he could do it, and that's what he's done over the last 2-3 years. Again here in the IPL, he was in and out of a lot of teams when he finally got the opportunity and the way he grabbed it (was amazing),” Sunil Gavaskar said during a discussion on an Indian sports network. 

 

“And now he's part of an India team. And now there's so much, so many high expectations of them. They are now expecting him to be another Yuvraj Singh. Rinku Singh – Yuvraj Singh. So if you can do even a fraction of what Yuvraj did for Indian cricket, then he will have done wonderfully well,” he explained.

 

Impressed with Rinku Singh's sparkling knock, Dale Steyn labeled his shot-making as “wonderful.”

 

“Someone in the eastern bay of Gqeberha won't be too happy with Rinku Singh breaking one of their windows,” Dale Steyn said on air.

 

“Wonderful shots. The off-spinners are kind of difficult to get a hold of. Aiden Markram saw a gap for himself there. He had picked up a wicket so maybe he thought ‘let me squeeze another one here or slip in a quick over, but Rinku had a different idea. Managed to come down the wicket, get to the pitch of that delivery and just break a window in the process. Nonetheless, it was a great shot,” he continued.

 

In addition to Sunil Gavaskar and Dale Steyn, 2011 World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir joined the list of former players who lauded the southpaw for his enormous talent.

 

“When you come in after a lot of handwork, first-class cricket and you have performed at every single stage, then you value each of your knocks. Then you start every innings like it is your first one, and you won't take anything for granted. Whatever success he gets, I feel, he deserves it. Because Rinku Singh hasn't got anything easily. When he does well, it's not just him, but the entire country becomes happy,” Gautam Gambhir concluded.

India and South Africa will play the third and final game of the three-match T20I series at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on December 14.

With the first match washed out in Durban due to heavy showers and India losing the second game against the Proteas, Suryakumar Yadav, and his boys will have to win the tie in Johannesburg to equal the series.