Andre Russell, Kolkata Knight Riders’ premier all-rounder, is pleased that Rinku Singh is now the team’s newest star, and his only piece of advice for his “brother” is to “stay humble.”
“I’m very happy for him and he is a good friend of mine, a very funny guy. I love him as a brother. I just want him to keep doing what he is doing, and keep being consistent,” player of the match Russell said.
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IPL 2023: Rinku Singh follows the Andre Russell template as KKR clinch last-ball win over PBKS
IPL 2023: ‘We have a finisher in Rinku Singh’, says Andre Russell after KKR’s win over PBKS
The 25-year-old scored a last-ball four against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Monday amid boisterous chants of “Rinku, Rinku.”
Earlier, Rinku had made headlines after sealing incredible victory with five sixes in a row to win the match against Gujarat Titans.
Needing two off the last delivery, a calm-headed Rinku was not bogged down by the atmosphere at the packed Eden Gardens.There was a sense of deja vu for Russell who has gone through similar situations and his advice for Rinku is to stay humble.
“It’s been going good for him so I’ve been encouraging whenever I get a chance to talk to him I tell him to stay humble.”It does not matter how many people are shouting Russell, Russell, Russell, I always stayed humble because when it gets into your head, that’s when you start to lose it,” he said.
Russell said he had full faith in the uncapped Indian to get the job done as he ran for a non-existent single after missing a wide yorker from Arshdeep Singh.
Needing to defend six, Arshdeep was at his frugal best and had given away just four runs from five deliveries before Russell’s dismissal.
“Definitely in any other game, with any other batter I’m not sure if I would have run. I’ve never really done those things before. I would back myself to bat till the last delivery and get the job done.”
“But when you have a batter like Rinku at the other end and who has been successful in the last few games for us, I was definitely confident. He is just a fearless player, wherever you bowl he has a shot to counter that. I told him we need you and we need you at this point. He said, ‘big man no worries’, so happy days.”
“The key to what I’ve seen that is going well for Rinku is he’s very calm. When you are batter, you have to have an open mind and be relaxed. You can’t expect only a full pitch delivery. You have to expect all kinds of deliveries — a slower one, slower wide ball, a yorker, a short one,”Russell said.
KKR are in the fifth spot in the points table with five wins, six losses and a total of 10 points. PBKS have slipped to the seventh position in the table with 10 points due to a low net-run rate.
(With inputs from PTI)
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