IPL 2023: KKR Star Rinku Singh's Fairytale Journey Sunday night's match witnessed a triumphant win by Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans in the 2023 IPL series. The laurels brought home by KKR's Rinku Singh brought him under the spotlight and has everyone intrigued about him.
By Kavya Pillai
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Sunday night's match witnessed a triumphant win by Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans in the 2023 IPL series. The laurels brought home by KKR's Rinku Singh brought him under the spotlight and has everyone intrigued about him. In an exclusive interview with Aakash Chopra on his show 'AAKASHVANI', Singh Spoke about his journey and dwelled on his experience of the days leading to the epic win.
His Initial Days
Singh spoke about how in the beginning he had several challenges which included not having his family's support for his goal of becoming a cricketer one day. A country like India that ardently loves and follows cricket does not reflect this admiration towards the next generation inclined towards sports and athletics. The lack of sports facilities, training and other logistics that are a resourceful support for young athletes in the initial stages make it challenging for people of this country to pursue sports as a career with the addition of monetary restraints. Singh in similar lines said, "At that time, I went to Kanpur to play for the first time in my hostel tournament and my mother gave me ₹1000 and supported me but my father used to beat me whenever I used to play."
Alternate Career
The cricketer opened up about how his father wanted him to get a job other than playing cricket. He also shared that his mother too wanted him to listen to his father and agreed with his notion for him to find another job. He recalled, "My brother used to work in a coaching centre as a cleaner and he took me there for a job - I was given the job to clean early in the morning and leave so that nobody would get to know. But I didn't like the job, so I left it and came back to focus on cricket."
First Big Win
Singh spoke about his first successful tournament as a cricketer, "We were playing against the Delhi Public School team and, I really batted well in that match scoring around 70 in a winning cause. So, the owner of the DPS, Swapnil Jain, asked me to join his team." Singh emerged victorious in a 2012 global cricket competition that saw players from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Dubai and Bangladesh. His performance led him to win the Player of the Tournament. "I won a bike from that competition and my cricket career started looking promising and from that day onwards day my father stopped scolding me," Singh remembered.
Singh concluded by sharing his elated reaction to the TATA IPL auctions. He shared how astonished he was by how much KKR was buying for. He said, "It was very important for me because I didn't expect that I will go for that much money. I thought that I will go to Mumbai for some 20-25 Lakhs but that price kept on getting high and reached 80 Lakhs. So, my family was very happy and with that 80 Lakhs I got our house constructed and then I bought a car for my father because he wanted a car for a long time. So, my father was happy, and my family was as well."
