IPL 2024: Rinku, Russell, Narine battle it out in six-hitting ahead of DC clash

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India]: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) legends Andre Russell and Sunil Narine and the franchise’s up-and-coming ‘finisher’ Rinku Singh had a fun six-hitting contest ahead of their side’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Visakhapatnam.

DC and two-time champions KKR will lock horns in their IPL match at Visakhapatnam. Both teams are coming into the match after big wins. While DC defeated Chennai Super Kings (RCB) in its previous match by 20 runs, KKR handed Royal Challengers Bengaluru a loss by 21 runs.

In a video posted by IPL’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the fearsome batting trio was seen hitting massive sixes.

Rinku believes that Andre ‘The Muscle’ takes the title of hitting the longest six. “They both (Russell and Narine) have a lot of power. Russell, the Muscle, hits such big sixes. Even Sunny (Sunil Narine) hits big sixes. You look at their arms and mine. I do not have that much power, I just time the ball.”

Russell and Narine are IPL legends, having won the IPL with KKR. In 114 matches, Russell has made 2,326 runs at an average of 29.82 and a strike rate of over 175. He has 11 fifties in his IPL career, with the best score of 88*. He has also taken 100 wickets.

Narine is primarily a bowler, having taken 165 wickets in 164 matches. However, he often opens the batting as a hitter, scoring 1,095 runs at an average of 14.04, with a strike rate of over 160. He has four half-centuries and a best score of 75.

Rinku, on the other hand, is a domestic cricket star from Uttar Pradesh, who shot to fame last year by smashing Gujarat Titans’ Yash Dayal for five successive sixes in the final over to complete a tense 200-plus run chase.

The 2023 IPL season was a breakthrough one for him, scoring 474 runs in 14 matches at an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of almost 150. He scored four half-centuries. In this season, he has played two matches and managed scores of 23 and 5* so far.

His IPL stats are: 753 runs in 33 matches at an average of 35.86 and a strike rate of 142.08, with four fifties. His best score is 67*. He signed with KKR in 2018 after spending time on the sidelines with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) back in 2017.

Rinku has converted his brilliant IPL form into good outings for India, scoring 356 runs in 15 matches and 11 innings at an average of 89.00 and a strike rate of over 176, with two fifties. His best score is 69*. He has also scored 55 runs in two ODIs for India. With strong first-class numbers for UP, 3,173 runs in 47 matches at an average of 54.70, with seven tons and 20 fifties, Rinku could be India’s next big all-format star after Virat and Rohit Sharma, alongside the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chetan Sakariya, Sherfane Rutherford, Sakib Hussain, Srikar Bharat, Dushmantha Chameera, Allah Ghazanfar, Nitish Rana
Delhi Capitals Squad: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Mitchell Marsh, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Rasikh Dar Salam, Sumit Kumar, Kumar Kushagra, Praveen Dubey, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Ricky Bhui, Kuldeep Yadav, Jhye Richardson, Shai Hope, Lalit Yadav, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Swastik Chikara.