Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Chandrakant Pandit showered praises on Rinku Singh, the left-handed batsman, for his sensational five sixes in the last five balls, leading KKR to a remarkable three-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match.
The match was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, and KKR was chasing a daunting target of 205 runs. With the team requiring 29 runs in the last over, Umesh Yadav took a single off the first ball, and then Rinku took charge of the proceedings, hitting five sixes on the next five balls to remain unbeaten on 48 not out and steering KKR to a memorable victory.
Pandit hailed Rinku's performance and compared it to two other innings that he had witnessed in his 43-year-long cricketing career. "In 43 years of my cricket career, being a coach, playing cricket, first-class cricket and international, I've previously seen two innings. One is Ravi Shastri scoring six sixes in the Ranji Trophy, and second was the last ball six from Javed Miandad in Dubai. And after that, I'm seeing you (Rinku's five sixes)," said Pandit in a video posted by the franchise on their social media accounts on Monday.
The KKR coach also praised Umesh Yadav for his presence of mind in rotating the strike on the very first ball of the last over to bring Rinku at the crease. He also appreciated Venkatesh Iyer for smashing 83 off 40 balls and sharing a 100-run partnership off 55 balls with captain Nitish Rana.
The Kolkata Knight Riders' next match in IPL 2023 will be against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens on April 14. The team will be looking to carry forward the momentum gained from their thrilling victory over Gujarat Titans.