After Rinku Singh guided India to a last-ball victory over Australia in the first T20I game at Visakhapatnam on Thursday, there was a warm embrace between Rinku and Abhishek Nayar.
India were in a perilous position in the final over of the innings as they chased a total of 209. India lost the wickets of Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh (the last two to run outs) off the 3rd, 4th and 5th balls of the 20th over. With one run needed off the final ball and Sean Abott looking to make it four wickets in four balls, Rinku was on strike.
India’s victory was sealed when Abbott erred and bowled a no ball, however Rinku dispatched the ball for a six over long on to ensure that even if Abbott had bowled a delivery that counted, India would have reached home safely.
After the hug between Rinku and Nayar went viral, cricketer-cum-commentator Dinesh Karthik revealed a heartwarming story behind the embrace and the bond between the duo.
“This was a partnership that started in 2018 during my time in KKR. Nayar always saw the potential in Rinku, he kept telling me, it was only a matter of time before he did something really special. Coming from a small town in Aligarh, all he needed was to think big, and I think that shift in mindset was what Nayar worked with Rinku majorly about apart from fine-tuning his death hitting skills,” tweeted Karthik, who went on to add: “Today when I see this photo, I just feel like Nayar as a coach has grown in stature and can share the happiness he feels for Rinku along with the rest of the world. Must be a surreal feeling seeing one of your students do well at a world stage and also be lucky enough to watch it live as a broadcaster and call the moment.”
“Even during the time he had an ACL injury, Nayar convinced Venky Mysore sir, who gracefully accepted Rinku to be part of the team and made him travel and stay with KKR. Rinku stayed in Nayars’ house post-IPL for many months for rehab and started working on his batting and had a stellar domestic season and then eventually did what Nayar and KKR always thought he could do: a MATCH WINNING FINISHER.”
