STATS CORNER: Rinku Singh’s T20I strike rate is 287.83 in 19th & 20th overs, and that is why he is India’s must-have finisher

Rinku did not biff five maximums in a row in Nagpur on Wednesday, but the 20 runs he reeled in with two sixes and as many fours in the final over glimpsed that the forthcoming weeks could define India’s first bona fide T20I finisher. They have not quite had a player like him in the position before, with wicket-keepers or an ensemble of all-rounders always doing the rounds during major tournaments.

Rinku strikes a six every three balls he faces in overs 19-20 in T20Is. (CREIMAS)

Absence of a secondary skill set had downplayed his ingenuity in the evolving path to defending the World Cup title. That was until the selectors picked up on a glaring hole in the eleventh hour before the World Cup squad was announced last month. The lack of adequate muscle and nous against pace at the death isn’t something Hardik Pandya can bandage alone during India’s home games at the World Cup, on arguably the flattest strips in the country.

Aptly, for the need of unrelenting options against the quicks in the final quarter of the innings, Rinku was back in the mix, with his unbeaten 20-ball 44 against the Kiwis uncovering a part of India’s full combative potential in the format.

The IPL stage has been readying him for years now, for no batter has outpaced the left-hander for the last three seasons at the death. Rinku’s 414 runs in the last-four stage have only been bettered by Tim David (463) in the IPL since 2023, but his 201.95 strike rate even eclipses the towering Aussie (197.25). Rinku does not beam explosively like David, or MS Dhoni and Heinrich Klaasen, who have also reached the 400-run mark at the death in the same period. And yet, he frequents boundaries quicker than the sturdy trio at the death, at every 3.15 deliveries.

The 28-year-old has already translated this ballistic charge for India in the death-overs, which has contributed to 51 per cent of his career runs at an explosive 214.68 strike rate. The numbers grow otherworldly as the pressure stiffens. Rinku has already gathered 213 of his 594 career runs in the last two overs of an innings alone, striking at 287.83. The scoring rate skyrockets to 302.63 in the 20th over, the highest among all Full-Member batters who have aggregated at least 100 runs within the final-over sequence.

A closer inspection of the rugged southpaw’s knocks throws up room for exploration, past the entrenchments of the slog overs. It is a temptation India will do best to resist, but will find solace in tough times ahead.

Over 40 balls were still left in the Indian innings when Rinku walked in at number seven against New Zealand in Nagpur. Playing out six deliveries for five runs before the 16th over, Rinku would plunder 39 off the next 14 deliveries with seven boundaries.

On the eight occasions that he has batted at least 15 deliveries in an innings from No. 5 or lower, Rinku has exhibited exceptional consistency, nudging at least 30 runs in each of those innings. Seven of them contributed 355 runs with an average strike-rate of 184.88, except the one knock (30 off 26) spent lifting India out from a pit – at 12 for three in two overs – against England in Pune last year.

The exceptional range between a grafter in crisis and an instant boundary-poacher at the death also combined to produce his best for India, an unbeaten 69 against Afghanistan,  in January 2024. With India down at 22 for four in the Powerplay, Rinku would forge an unbroken 190-run stand with Rohit Sharma, culminating in a double Super Over win.

With only five innings in chases in his T20I career, Rinku hasn’t habituated hitting the winning runs amidst a stacked top-order. The 2025 Asia Cup final against Pakistan was his to finish, and India will hope rampant Rinku will remain just the same in the eye of a chasing storm in the next six weeks.