Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Rinku Singh became an overnight sensation after he hit Gujarat Titans’ left-arm pacer Yash Dayal for five straight sixes in the 20th over of an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 fixture. 25-year-old Rinku pulled off one of the biggest heists in T20 cricket history to seal a memorable win for Kolkata over the defending champions. This was Rinku’s claim to fame and ever since then, no matter where he bats, his name is chanted across venues in the country. Fans and cricket pundits now consider Rinku as one of the best and most reliable finishers in the shortest format, predicting that he might even get picked in Hardik Pandya-led India team for T20 World Cup, next year.

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However, Riku is pretty much aware that the fans who are chanting his name will soon abuse him if his performance levels drop.

“I was batting the same, those five sixes changed my life. Few people knew me earlier but now everyone knows me after those five sixes. The crowd chants my name Rinku-Rinku, things suddenly changed overnight. But I know where I come from. These are two minutes of fame, yeh log joh aaj wah-wah kar rahe hai, wohi log kal gaali bhi denge, if I fail. (If I fail the same people will jeer me),” Rinku Singh exclusively told Indian Express.

Rinku recalled his days of struggle, revealing that one his mother asked him to do a sweeper’s job so that he could earn some money for his family.

“No one has seen my hardwork and everyone has just seen my success. I come from a background where I had nothing in my life. I came from a poor family which had no money. I had no qualifications or studies.

“My mother told me to do a sweeper’s job so that I can make some money for my family. The only thing which could have taken me out of this situation was cricket and I was ready to do any amount of hard work for it. Lot of people helped me from time to time and the way KKR stood behind me is the one reason why I’m here today,” said Rinku.

Kolkata Knight Riders finished 7th on points table as the two-time IPL winners failed to qualify for IPL 2023 playoffs after suffering a one-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants in their final league stage match on Saturday. For KKR, Rinku scored 474 runs at an average of 59.25 and a strike-rate of 149.53 in IPL 2023.

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