Aakash Chopra feels KKR should promote their finisher up the order after defeat to SRH in a high-scoring thriller

Aakash Chopra & KKR team (Source: Twitter)

Rinku Singh has impressed everyone with his consistent performances for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), including a few match-winning knocks. Rinku, who bats at no. 7 for KKR, has played numerous rescue innings for them since the previous season. However, the 25-year-old rose to the limelight with his stellar showing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra praised Rinku's back-to-back heroic performances but questioned his batting position.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) posted a mammoth total of 228 runs in their last encounter at Eden Gardens, thanks to a fiery batting display from Harry Brook (100* off 55) and a stunning half-century from skipper Aiden Markram (50 off 26). KKR got off to a poor start while chasing, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a 3-ball duck in the first over. They slipped to 20/3 as Marco Jansen dismissed Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine in consecutive deliveries in the fourth over.

Just when the hosts looked like they would collapse with a low score, captain Nitish Rana's counter-attack (71 off 41 balls) gave them life. Rana made a decent partnership with N Jagadeesan and afterwards with Rinku to move close to the target. Although Rinku scored an unbeaten 58 off 31 balls, all his efforts went in vain as KKR lost the match by 23 runs.

Rinku can be sent up the order: Chopra

Chopra, a former KKR batter who lauded both left-handers' knocks against SRH, believes Rinku should have been promoted up the order.

"Nitish Rana played very well and Rinku Singh batted beautifully once again. But Rinku can be sent up the order. You promoted Sunil Narine here and also sent Andre Russell ahead of him."

His comments came after Rinku's sensational innings against Gujarat Titans, hitting five straight sixes in the last over to pull off an improbable victory.

"You sent Rinku ahead of Andre in Ahmedabad. There we were asking if Andre shouldn't have been sent, but after what Rinku did in Ahmedabad, we were asking whether Rinku shouldn't have come earlier," Chopra added.

When his team was on the verge of collapsing at 5/96 versus SRH, Rinku hit four sixes and as many fours to complete his half-century. KKR were at 3/128 runs at one stage during their match against Titans, and Rinku hammered 48 runs off 21 balls to secure a historic victory. He had performed similar rescue operations for his franchise earlier as well. The Uttar Pradesh star scored 46 off 33 balls when KKR were 3/47 and he played a blistering innings of 40 off 15 balls when they were 5/142.