INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE | RR’S RAVI BISHNOI HOLDS IPL 2026 PURPLE CAP WITH 7 WKTS
Kolkata, April 7: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly thinks that Kolkata Knight Riders should promote vice-captain Rinku Singh up the order to ease the team’s batting woes in the ongoing IPL 2026.
The three-time champion KKR are yet to win a match in three outings this season, and even the one point that they have in their kitty now is from a washout against Punjab Kings on Monday.
“He’s (Rahane) the Knight Riders captain, and I feel Rinku bats too low. He’s (Rinku) a better player than that, and, hopefully, the team finds a way to push him up the order,” Ganguly said while speaking at the unveiling of the third edition of the Bengal Pro T20 League.
Apart from Rahane and Rinku, Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mohammed Shami was also present on the dais.Rinku had lit up the IPL 2023 and became the only batter to hit five sixes in the last over of an IPL or any T20 chase in their win over Gujarat Titans.
Rinku also played a key role in KKR’s title winning run in the IPL 2024.
This season, KKR have persisted with Rahane in the opening slot alongside explosive New Zealander Finn Allen.The Knight Riders’ costliest overseas acquisition Cameron Green (Rs 25.20 crore) was promoted to No. 3 ahead of in-form Angkrish Raghuvanshi.Yet to start bowling as part of his management chart, Green has struggled in the IPL with scores of 18, 2 and 4 so far.
Rinku has largely batted at No. 5. The left-hander struck an unbeaten 33 off 21 balls against Mumbai Indians and followed it up with 35 off 25 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a failed chase of 227 at the Eden Gardens.
They next face Lucknow Super Giants here on Thursday. Ganguly then turned his focus to Shami, backing the out-of-favour pacer for an India comeback and bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah.
“He should be bowling at the other end of Bumrah, nowhere else. That’s how good he is. We all saw that spell the other night against Sunrisers Hyderabad — four overs, nine runs against two of the best T20 players, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. That was phenomenal.” Shami was adjudged Player of the Match for his figures of 2/9 in four overs.
“He had a strong Ranji Trophy season for Bengal. I still remember that semifinal, even though Bengal lost, he picked eight wickets. He was instrumental in taking the team that far.
However, he has been out of favour with the national selectors led by Ajit Agarkar. (PTI)
