"Special and rare talent" - Fans react to Rinku Singh’s quickfire half-century in IND vs SA 2nd T20I

Rinku Singh once again starred with the bat, this time against South Africa in the second T20I at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday (December 12).

The left-handed batter slammed an unbeaten 68 runs off 39 balls at a strike rate of 174.36, including two maximums and nine boundaries (when rain interrupted play after 19.3 overs). One of his sixes even broke the media room's glass.

The UP-born cricketer also shared a crucial 70-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav to recover the visitors from 55/3. It was also his maiden half-century in international cricket.

Rinku’s exploits with the bat in SA followed his consistent performances during the recently concluded home T20I series against Australia. The 26-year-old amassed 105 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 175, with a high score of 46 off 29 deliveries.

Rinku rose through the ranks to play for India earlier this year. That came following his sublime performances for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the last two years. He was named the Player of the Match in his first-ever outing with the bat during India's tour of Ireland earlier this year.

Fans on X (formerly Twitter) lauded Rinku Singh for his quickfire half-century against South Africa away from home. One user wrote:

"Rinku Singh is special and rare talent that India always lack in T20Is."

Here are some more reactions:

“They are now expecting him to be another Yuvraj Singh” – Sunil Gavaskar on Rinku Singh

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar recently lauded Rinku Singh for his sensational start in international cricket. The cricketer-turned-commentator said that fans are now expecting Rinku to fill in the shoes of the legendary Yuvraj Singh. He recently told Star Sports:

“Talent – it’s not given to everybody. You can love the game. You can play all day, but sometimes you know you might not quite have the talent, but he has the belief that he could do it, and that’s what he’s done over the last 2-3 years. Again here in the IPL, he was in and out of a lot of teams when he finally got the opportunity, and the way he grabbed it (was amazing)."

Gavaskar added:

“And now he’s part of an India team. And now there’s so much, so many high expectations of them. They are now expecting him to be another Yuvraj Singh. Rinku Singh – Yuvraj Singh. So if you can do even a fraction of what Yuvraj did for Indian cricket, then he will have done wonderfully well."

Follow the IND vs SA 2nd T20I live score and updates here.