After the Indian men’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup was announced on December 20, a few changes might take place due to injuries or lack of fitness of any of the players.
Indian selectors took bold decisions in dropping Shubman Gill; however, some of the selections made did not seem to fit the team dynamic. The selections may have been made based on the combination, but one weak link can cost the entire team when it comes to an ICC tournament.
The Indian team mostly has players who have delivered consistent and promising performances over the past few months, with Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh being the only players to return to the scheme of things after a notable absence.
Your daily dose of cricket!
The Uttar Pradesh batter is the weakest link in India’s T20 World Cup team
With the kind of form and dominance that Ishan Kishan showed in the recent edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he cannot be considered a weak link in the team. Kishan also has promising T20I numbers for India in the past.
Rinku Singh might have had decent numbers for India, but the last time he played a match before the Asia Cup final was against England in February, and the last time he played a meaningful innings for India was against Bangladesh in October 2024.
Rinku Singh has been quite out of touch, which has kept him away from the Indian team; However, citing that he could come in handy in the T20 World Cup combine, the Uttar Pradesh batter was picked in the 15-member squad.
However, Rinku has also not been in touch in the format, and the batter has no skills other than batting, and what’s more, with Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube all having a role to play with the ball, he is not ideal to replace any of them.
RCB wicketkeeper can be brought in as replacement
If Rinku is picked in the original XI, then his effectiveness would be a huge question, especially in the subcontinent, as he is not a very good spin bowler. Jitesh Sharma, the wicketkeeper, could have been a more reliable player down the order if India needed reinforcements.
Another player who showed glimpses of his fine form was young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Reddy played only three matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the Andhra Pradesh team and scored 70 runs at a healthy strike rate, and also scored a hat-trick in the match against Madhya Pradesh.
Furthermore, the SRH all-rounder could be useful with both the bat and the ball, and could be a like-for-like replacement for any of the all-rounders, especially Hardik Pandya being very injury-prone.
Rinku Singh’s stats in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025
Rinku Singh was recently not part of the South African national series team, which resulted in him playing the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season for his state team, Uttar Pradesh. The left-handed middle-order hitter did not have a very promising run.
Coming off a promising run with the bat in the Ranji Trophy, where he scored an unbeaten century against Andhra Pradesh, then returning from Australia to continue his peak form against Tamil Nadu. However, upon entering SMAT, Rinku lost his spark and was dismissed for consecutive single-digit scores.
His only promising SMAT performance came against Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where he scored 65 and 45 respectively. In 7 matches of the season, Rinku managed only 172 runs at an average of 24.57 and only one half-century.
ALSO READ: PCB and Mohsin Naqvi embarrassed as bidders show no interest in buying two new PSL teams
