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Rinku Singh will start his captaincy stint by leading Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India's 50-over domestic competition, which will begin on December 21, ESPN Cricinfo reported.
He has taken over captaincy from seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who led the side in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Under Bhuvneshwar's captaincy, UP suffered a loss against Delhi in the quarter-finals. It will be Rinku's first stint of leading a state team at the senior level. He has had a taste of captaincy while leading Meerut Mavericks to the UPT20 League title. During the campaign, he majorly played the role of a finished and racked up 210 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.54. "It was a big opportunity for me to lead Meerut Mavericks in the UPT20 League, and I am happy that I could deliver. I really enjoyed captaincy as it allowed me to learn many things," Rinku said ahead of their Vijay Hazare Trophy opener, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. "I did try my hand at bowling [offspin] too at the UPT20 league. Present-day cricket demands a full package - a cricketer who can bat, bowl and field. Now, I am focusing on my bowling too. As captain of Uttar Pradesh, I have got a bigger role to play, and I'm ready for this," he added. Rinku's ascendancy to leadership role comes at a time when the three-time IPL champions, KKR, are mulling over their potential captaincy options for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He was retained by the franchise alongside Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana before the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah. "I am not thinking too much about the captaincy of KKR in the new IPL season. I am focused on my plans for Uttar Pradesh, as I want my team to regain the trophy we had won for the first time in 2015-16," Rinku added. The Vijay Hazare Trophy could assist the Indian management in identifying the talent, which could play a part in India's cause in next year's ICC Champions Trophy. Since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, Rinku has become a regular in the format but is still to earn a spot in the ODI format. Rinku has featured in two ODIs for India and holds pretty impressive List-A numbers. The southpaw has garnered 1,899 runs in 52 innings, averaging 48.69 while striking at 94.8. His excellent numbers include one hundred and 17 half-centuries. "I believe in God. I didn't even think of being part of Team India when I struck five consecutive sixes in the IPL last year. That turned out to be the biggest game-changer in my life. Even now, I feel that if God has decided something for me, I will get that surely. But at the same time, I also need to work hard on my job," he remarked. (ANI)
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