“I am living my mother’s dream”: Indian batter Rinku Singh

Dublin [Ireland], August 20 (ANI): India’s young batter Rinku Singh who made his T20I debut in the first match against Ireland, said that he is living his mother’s dream. 

In an exclusive interview with JioCinema ahead of India’s tour of Ireland, Rinku Singh talks about his arduous journey and burning desire of earning his maiden India call-up. 

“They were very happy. My mother always told me to work as hard as I can to earn the India call and that has happened now, so I am living their dream,” Rinku said. 

“My family had a massive role in my journey to date. When they didn’t have enough to fund my career, my mother borrowed money from others to keep me going. Where I am today is because of the support I have got from them,” he further added. 

Rinku Singh came to the limelight in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when he hit five consecutive six in the last over for the Kolkata Knight Riders to provide them with an improbable win against Gujarat Titans.

“It is a nice feeling because I have worked very hard to reach here. I picked up cricket almost 10-12 years ago and the one goal my parents set for me was to represent the country. They felt IPL is played by so many but only a few get picked for the Indian team so they wanted me to make the most of my opportunities in IPL and get to the Indian team. And now their dream is about to come true,” He said. 

“I was in Noida with my friends when I got a call about my selection. Immediately after the news I called my mother and she got very emotional. Listening to her emotion-laced voice, I couldn’t control the tears of happiness. They were waiting for this moment for a while now,” he further added. 

Rinku also talked about the struggles he faced and how his family supported him. 

“I have seen my family face financial struggles and I wanted to help them overcome them through cricket. That desire to get them out of the grind kept me going. It kept me motivated to work hard and keep up my efforts,” the young batter said. 

Rinku had a breakthrough Indian Premier League (IPL) season with Kolkata Knight Riders, scoring 474 runs in 14 matches at an average of over 59 with four half-centuries.

“The efforts are the same, to be honest, but the pressure is a little more. The intention is to continue to do things the same way I did during the IPL, keep my calm during batting and focus on the role I have in the team,” he continued. 

“I have achieved the first goal I set out to achieve, i.e., to get selected for the Indian team. From here on, I will do everything within my capabilities, give my 100% to achieve the team’s desired results and be in the mix for as long as I can,” Rinku concluded.