At the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Rinku slammed a 29-ball 46 and put on a crucial 56-run stand for the fifth wicket with Jitesh Sharma, who chipped in with a quick 19-ball 35. The duo’s clean striking meant India made 174/9 in 20 overs, which was enough to seal a 20-run win.
“Aapko pata hi hai aapke saath gym hi karta hun (You know it, I train with you in the gym). I eat good food and I like lifting weights in the gym and it helps me generate power (for shots) naturally. I have been playing in the IPL for five to six years. I try to keep myself calm while having confidence and backing myself,” Rinku told Jitesh Sharma in a video posted on BCCI.tv.
On the other hand, Jitesh admitted he was a bit nervous while batting as he was playing an international match in India for the first time and thanked Rinku for keeping him calm during their critical partnership.
“I played my last match for India in China during the Asian Games, and it was against Afghanistan. It felt really good to play in India and that too in front of such a big crowd at home. The best thing about this game was my partnership with you, which I thoroughly enjoyed.”
“I was under pressure, but you looked pretty calm. I want to thank you for keeping me calm as well. You kept telling me that we need to stick around and build a partnership,” he concluded.
India have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the ongoing five-match T20I series against Australia and will play the fifth and final game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
IANS