"Since the World Cup is approaching, I want runs to continuously come from Rinku Singh's bat" - Aakash Chopra on KKR players in focus vs PBKS

Aakash Chopra wants Rinku Singh to be among the runs in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2024 clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Kolkata on Friday, April 26.

With 10 points from seven games, KKR are placed second on the points table. A win against PBKS will help them consolidate their second spot and bolster their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra chose Rinku Singh among the KKR players to watch out for in Friday's game.

"Could this be Rinku's match? Rinku's fantastic avatar has not yet been seen because he isn't getting that much batting. When he gets less batting, he gets stuck regarding how many deliveries he should play and how much he should hit. Since (Andre) Russell is playing well, no one is sending him up the order as well," he reasoned (12:00).

"He might get to bat less here as well. However, I am greedy that Rinku should get to bat and score runs. Since the World Cup is approaching, I want runs to continuously come from Rinku Singh's bat. The number for which he will be fighting, Shivam Dube is already playing very well there. As much as I love Shivam Dube, I love Rinku Singh as much," the former India opener added.

Chopra picked Sunil Narine as another KKR player in focus against PBKS.

"I am going towards Sunil Narine because he will open once again. I feel a game plan has been made against him now. I am very interested to see whether the other teams also follow that. Bengaluru (RCB) did that well. They bowled absolutely full balls and eventually dismissed him, so whether Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran and Kagiso Rabada will do the same thing?" he said (8:30).

"I have great expectations from Sunil Narine the bowler because Sam Curran comes to open for PBKS since Shikhar isn't there. Liam Livingstone comes in the middle and Rilee Rossouw plays. So his spin will work there. He picked up two wickets in the last match as well," the former KKR player added.

Chopra named Harshit Rana as the third KKR player he is eager to watch.

"In bowling, I am once again thinking about Harshit Rana because I am liking him a lot. You can keep him as a slightly out-of-the-box name for the World Cup selection because when you are seeing who after (Jasprit) Bumrah) in the Indian T20 team, you are searching slightly," he explained (12:55).

"Arshdeep Singh is not being seen performing that well. (Mohammed) Siraj is looking slightly out of form. T Natarajan is the only one who is bowling well but he has also not played international cricket for a long time. So I am going with Harshit Rana," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Rana has picked up nine wickets at an economy rate of 9.25 in five innings in IPL 2024. He is the joint-highest wicket-taker for KKR alongside Narine and Andre Russell.

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Rinku Singh's record in IPL 2024

Rinku Singh has faced only 67 balls in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Rinku Singh might compete with Shivam Dube for a place in India's T20 World Cup squad. The KKR batter has scored 107 runs at an impressive strike rate of 159.70 in six innings in IPL 2024. He has faced limited deliveries due to the Kolkata-based franchise's batting depth and the excellent form of their top-order batters.

On the flip side, Dube has smashed 311 runs at an excellent strike rate of 169.94 in eight innings for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this season. Although the CSK all-rounder might have an edge purely based on IPL 2024 performances, the selectors will also likely consider their past international and domestic records if they have to choose between the duo.