NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh became an overnight star after smashing five consecutive sixes against Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 match and since then the calls to include him in the national team were doing the rounds.

His exclusion from the T20I squad for the upcoming series against West Indies also raised a few eyebrows. However, the left-handed batter finally made the cut for the Asian Games scheduled from September 23 to October 8.
Rinku spoke about how his life saw a drastic change after hitting those five sixes and how his family reacted when he got his maiden national call-up.

“My life changed after those five sixes. People knew me but not that much. But after those five sixes, now a lot of people know. It feels quite good,” Rinku said in a video posted by BCCI on Twitter.
“My family were very happy as they would say, “Play for India, we want to watch you.” Everything is good and everyone danced when I got selected. It was a special innings and people began to talk about me,” he added.
In the IPL 2023, Rinku emerged as the seventh-highest run-scorer, showcasing impressive form for KKR. Throughout 14 matches, he accumulated a total of 474 runs at an exceptional average of 59.25.

Asian Games coincides with the start of the ODI World Cup and that is why a B team has been named.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was named captain of India’s squad while Shivam Dube, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma and Prabhsimran Singh are the others who have been picked at the back of a stellar IPL.