'He needed to make a statement and he made it in the first game itself' - Brendon McCullum

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum applauded Rinku Singh after their win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday.

Chasing 153 runs, Rinku came in at the dismissal of captain Shreyas Iyer in the 13th over when the game still looked in the balance with KKR still needing 60-odd runs to win.

The 24-year-old left-hander playing just his third game of this season did not show any nerves and he took the attack to the Rajasthan bowlers. Rinku remained unbeaten on 42 off 23 balls while Nitish scored 48 runs off 37 deliveries to guide KKR to a crucial win with five balls to spare. 

Speaking about Rinku at the post-match conference, Brendon McCullum said:

"He (Rinku) has been in the franchise for a long period of time. Lucky enough to spend some time with him. He needed to make a statement and he made it in the first game itself. Rana was out in the middle and that gave him (Rinku) a lot of confidence in his company."

Although Rinku didn't get to his maiden IPL fifty but his efforts with the bat were enough to bag a man of the match award.

The Uttar Pradesh-based cricketer had made his IPL debut in 2018 but until the start of IPL 2022, he had played in only 10 matches for KKR. In the past four seasons, he had been on a contract worth Rs 80 lakh. Realising the potential of the youngster, KKR re-bought him in the IPL 2022 mega-auction for Rs 55 lakh.

KKR will play their next league game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Saturday, May 7 at the MCA Stadium in Pune.