KKR management 'blamed' for Rinku Singh's T20 World Cup snub: 'He was a hero last year. Now he lost his form'

Rinku Singh was not picked in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

Flamboyant batter Rinku Singh failed to make the cut into India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup which raised several eyebrows. Rinku was a consistent performer for India in the shortest format before the start of the IPL, but a lack of chances for KKR this season hampered his chances for the mega ICC event.

Rinku built his reputation as a finisher with his power-hitting show for KKR in the last couple of seasons and match-winning knocks for India. In 15 T20Is he played for India so far, the left-handed powerhouse smashed 356 runs at an astonishing average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23

Meanwhile, he didn’t get much chance to bat for KKR this season as the top order has been firing all cylinders for them. In the 11 matches, Rinku didn’t get much opportunity to bat and faced only 101 balls, on which he hit 148 runs at a strike rate of 146.53.

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Former India cricketer Ashok Malhotra has put the blame on KKR management for Rinku’s T20 snub for not providing him with enough chances with the bat.

“I will blame KKR management. He was a hero last year. But this year, he hardly got a chance to bat. And now when they are giving him a chance he is off-colour. He lost his form. He doesn’t seem to be in good nick,” Malhotra told RevSports.

Rinku has also been seen a bit off-colour in recent times, as Malhotra connected it with him not batting much in the first half.

“Last year he was scoring runs but this year he is struggling. And that is because almost half the tournament is over and he has hardly got a bat. So, I would have put the blame a little bit on KKR because they didn’t give him enough chance,” he added.

However, the 57-year-old suggested that Rinku should have been included in the main squad for his match-finishing abilities.

“But despite of that selectors have picked him in the reserves. Although he deserved to be [in the main squad]. Because he is a guy who can bat in the late order. He can be a good finisher and we all know what he can do,” he added

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