Rinku Singh memes took the internet by storm after the India batter's scintillating unbeaten 69-run innings off 39 deliveries against Afghanistan in the third T20I in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Rinku Singh's batting heroics came after the Men in Blue found themselves in deep trouble at 22/4 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, having lost Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson inside the first five overs.
In fact, Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson perished without troubling the scorers with the former getting out for his maiden golden duck in T20Is. Afghanistan's left-arm pacer Fareed Ahmad was right on the money from the word go.
As Rohit Sharma and his boys had their backs to the wall, the Nagpur-born cricketer combined with Rinku Singh to take India to 212/4 in their allocated 20 overs.
While Rohit Sharma struck an unbeaten 121 off 69 deliveries, featuring 11 fours and 8 sixes, Rinku Singh remained not out on 69.
Rinku Singh's 69 included six maximums and two boundaries as the Uttar Pradesh batter went on a rampage during the fag-end of the Indian essay.
On the other hand, India captain Rohit Sharma struck a record-breaking hundred in the third T20I against Afghanistan in Bengaluru.
With his three-figure score against the Central Asian side, Rohit Sharma became the first man to smash five centuries in T20Is.
In the process, Rohit Sharma went past Australia's Glenn Maxwell and his India teammate Suryakumar Yadav, who have four tons each to their names in T20Is.
In addition, Rohit Sharma replaced Virat Kohli from the top of the list of Indian skippers who have scored the most runs in T20Is.
During his reign as skipper of India's T20 side, Virat Kohli accumulated 1570 runs – a tally overtaken by Rohit Sharma against Afghanistan on Wednesday.
It is worth mentioning that Rohit Sharma had a contrasting series with the bat against Afghanistan. He lost his wicket for zero in Mohali and Indore but came out with a blazing hundred in the last fixture in Bengaluru.
In the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit Sharma praised Rinku Singh, who played a key role in India's victory with his brisk half-century.
“Creating a partnership was important, kept talking with Rinku to not lose intent. We may find ourselves in such situations in big games where we'd be 30 for 4. It was a good situation to be in with the pressure, was important to bat long, bat deep but not compromise on the intent we wanted to show,” Rohit Sharma said.
“In the last couple of series he's played, Rinku can show what he can do. Fearless, keeps himself calm, is very clear about his game plan and knows his strengths very well. He's coming of age, creates an impression every time he gets an opportunity,” he added.
“In the last 10 innings for India, he's done very well. We've wanted someone who can bat in the back end with a clear mindset. You saw how he's done well in the IPL, he's carried that forward here,” the India captain pointed out.
India head coach Rahul Dravid described the match in Bengaluru as a great game of cricket. After all, rarely T20Is have required two Super Overs to decide a winner.
“Great game of cricket, fantastic game. Went on and on and on. Incredible batting on display. Rohit and Rinku from our side, some of the hitting from their side also, truly T20 hitting at its absolute best. Great for Bishnoi to be able to land two deliveries perfectly to eight us those two wickets. Our bowling attack was young, just for them to experience this is a great thing for them,” Rahul Dravid told Sports 18.
“Honestly I think Rohit was brilliant today, showed what a class player he can be. The talk was always to be positive. You know you need a big score, in the end that level of hitting, with Rohit the range he has – was superb. Good to have him back, his presence in the dressing room is great. Both Virat and him add a lot to this group. We've been chatting with a lot of our players about opening up squarer part of the wickets, using sweeps and reverse sweep, great to see Rohit leading from the front,” he elaborated.
“Terrific from Rinku, for someone just starting out, it's been a few months, the maturity and calmness, we've seen him come in the back end and finish games off, to come in and build a partnership and show in the back end was great to see. He's very clear about his skills, what his strengths are, what he needs to work on,” Rahul Dravid summed up.
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