Rinku reveals Dhoni's role in sharpening finishing skills

Rinku Singh showed yet again why he is the perfect candidate to be India's finisher in the T20 World Cup next year when he pushed India over the line in a record chase against Australia. India chased down a target of 209, their highest successful chase in a T20I against Australia, to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. While stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan's half-centuries powered much of the chase, there was still a lot to do when the pair fell and it was Rinku's unbeaten 22 off 14 that took India over the line.

Rinku's consistency at the end of an innings has been commented on since he did it time and again for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL earlier this year. He has often been compared to the kind of impact the great MS Dhoni used to have as a finished. Rinku admitted that a conversation with the former India captain has helped him perform. "I had spoken to Mahi bhai once. I was asking him what he does in the last over of a match. He was saying that you have to stay as calm as possible, and try to hit straight. That is what I try to follow, to remain quiet and not react to anything. That has helped me a lot," he said on BCCI.tv.

Rinku walked in after the dismissal of Tilak Varma in the 15th over, at the end of which India needed 54 to win off 30 balls. He hit two fours in the next over while Suryakumar soldiered on as well and the pair put up a stand of 40 runs in 17 balls. Suryakumar fell on 80 off 42 but it looked India are set for a straightforward win when they started the last over needing seven to win. Rinku hit a four off the first ball to reduce the deficit to three needed off five balls. The batters ran a bye off the next ball but then a spanner was thrown into the works when Axar Patel was dismissed off the third. It came down to India needing one to win off the last ball and Rinku ended up hitting the ball out of the park. It had initially looked like a six but it turned out that the bowler Sean Abbott had overstepped and so it was the run from the no ball that got counted. Rinku's score remained on 22, with the six runs not being counted.

Rinku said that he got to know about this only when fast bowler Arshdeep Singh told him once he got inside the dressing room. "I didn't know that it was a no ball. It was Arshdeep bhai who told me that it was a no-ball and so those runs won't be added into my score. But the important thing is that we won the match," he said on BCCI.tv.

"It was a perfect situation for me, I had played in these kinds of moments a lot of times now. It felt quite good to be playing with Surya bhaiyya. I think we needed about 40 runs in the last four overs. I was just trying stay calm and take it to the last over."