Former India spinner and ex-Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Akash Chopra has launched a strong defense of Rinku Singh against social media trolls who criticized him during his lean patch in T20 cricket. He led Kolkata Knight Riders to a thrilling victory against Rajasthan Royals with an unbeaten 53 off 34 balls at the Eden Gardens Rink on Sunday evening, moving the narrative back from failure to goal. KKR vs RR: Highlights | Scorecard
Aakash Chopra expressed his happiness over Rinku Singh playing a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ first win of the season. The 28-year-old was lucky when Rajasthan Royals dropped him at 8and capitalized on it to rescue KKR from 84 for 6 in their chase of 156.
A seasoned commentator has pointed to a disturbing sentiment that has emerged during the recent slump in form: a class nostalgia suggesting that Rinku was a better cricketer when he was an underprivileged underdog.
“I feel very good about Rink because he has been trolled a lot. What nonsense people are saying,” Chopra said on his YouTube show after KKR win by four wickets.
“I’ve heard many say that ‘Rinku was good when he was poor’. Aren’t you ashamed to say that? How will you feel if someone says the same about you?”
This criticism highlights a deeper problem in Indian sports fandom – the tendency to romanticize the struggles of players, but to weaponize their success against them once their performance drops. Rinku’s struggles in the first five games of the 2026 season were evident, yet Chopra was quick to remind critics of the player’s pedigree. Just months ago, Rinku battled a personal loss during India’s T20 World Cup campaign. To dismiss such a player as useless after a few matches is a collective memory lapse, according to Chopra.
“People said he was a useless player. People forgot he was a world champion,” remarked Chopra. “He doesn’t get a lot of chances. The number he’s batting at, you can’t bat that well and this team didn’t use him well. Anyone can go through bad form. Rinku was trolled like he murdered someone.”
The finisher’s role is probably the most volatile in T20 cricket. When you come to number five or six, often with a dozen balls to spare, it leaves no room for error.
Chopra pointed out that the inconsistency in KKR’s use of the middle order earlier this season only worsened Rinku’s struggles, yet fans chose to focus on the individual rather than the tactical set-up.
HOW RINKU COATED THE NOISE
While the noise on social media reached a fever pitch, Rinku remained characteristically quiet. His response came not via tweet, but via calculated, ice-cold innings under the Eden lights. Chasing a tricky 156 on a slowing pitch, Rinku managed the game and absorbed the pressure under which some big names in the team crumbled, including Ajinkya Rahane and Cameron Green.
Rinku and Anukul Roy, another lower-order all-rounder, added 76 runs for the seventh wicket to take KKR past the finish line. When Rinku hit the winning runs to secure KKR’s first points of the season, the negative chatter was replaced by familiar chants of his name echoing through the stands.
Captain Rahane was also delighted for Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy and acknowledged that Rinku has endured a lot of late.
“Rinku Singh was going through a tough phase again mentally. I’m really happy to see him finish the match. And Anukul Roy, he had a fantastic domestic season, a very confident lad. We wanted to give him that opportunity. He couldn’t bowl today because of his left-right hand combination. But I’m really happy to see the way both of them batted for us,” Rahane said.
Rinku Singh lost his father during India’s T20 World Cup campaign. However, the Uttar Pradesh cricketer decided to attend his funeral and return to join the team that eventually won the trophy.
Rinku and KKR will be hoping that the decisive stroke of victory in Kolkata will be the start of a turnaround for the left-hander. Having not scored more than 200 runs since the 2023 season, the finisher will be eager to build on the power he found against the Royals.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
20 Apr 2026 14:16 IST
