Former India opener and former Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Aakash Chopra came up with a strong defense of Rinku Singh on social media against trolls who criticized him during his poor spell in T20 cricket. On Sunday night at the Eden Gardens, Rinku smashed an unbeaten 53 off 34 balls to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to a thrilling win against Rajasthan Royals and turn the narrative from failure to finisher. KKR vs RR: highlight | Achievement:

Aakash Chopra expressed happiness for Rinku Singh, who played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ first win of the season. The 28 year old was lucky When Rajasthan Royals dismissed him for 8 runsAnd they took advantage of this and saved KKR from 84 runs for 6 wickets while chasing the target of 156 runs.

The veteran commentator pointed to a troubling sentiment that has emerged during the southpaw’s recent decline in form: a classist nostalgia that suggests Rinku was a better cricketer when he was a disadvantaged underdog.

Chopra said in her YouTube show, “I feel very good for Rinku because she was being trolled a lot. What nonsense people say.” KKR won by four wickets.

“I have heard many people say that ‘Rinku was good when he was poor.’ Aren’t you ashamed to say this? How would you feel if someone said the same thing about you?”

This criticism highlights a deeper issue in the Indian sporting world – the tendency to romanticise a player’s struggles, but as their performance declines, their success is weaponized against them. Rinku’s difficulties were evident in the first five games of the 2026 season, yet Chopra was quick to remind critics of the player’s pedigree. A few months ago, Rinku suffered a personal defeat during India’s T20 World Cup campaign. To dismiss such a player as useless after a few matches is, in Chopra’s view, a collective failure of memory.

Chopra said, “People said he was a useless player. People forgot he was a world champion.” “He gets fewer chances. At the numbers he bats at, you can’t bat that well and this team hasn’t used him well. Everyone can go through bad form. Rinku was trolled as if he had murdered someone.”

The role of finisher is arguably the most volatile in T20 cricket. Coming in at number five or six, often with only a dozen balls remaining, there is little margin for error.

Chopra pointed out that inconsistency in KKR’s use of the middle order early this season compounded Rinku’s struggles, yet fans chose to take aim at the personal rather than the tactical setup.

How did Rinku deal with the noise?

While the noise on social media reached its peak, Rinku remained notably silent. His response came not through a tweet but through a thoughtful, cool innings in the light of Eden. Chasing a difficult target of 156 runs on a slow pitch, Rinku took charge of the game withstood the pressure under which some of the big names of the team including Ajinkya Rahane and Cameron Green crumbled.

Rinku and another lower-order all-rounder Anukul Roy added 76 runs for the seventh wicket to take KKR to the finishing line. As Rinku scored the winning runs to secure KKR’s first points of the season, familiar chants of his name began to echo through the stands, replacing the negative chatter.

Captain Rahane was also happy for Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy, admitting that Rinku has gone through a lot recently.

“Rinku Singh again, he was going through a tough phase mentally. Really happy to see him finish the game. And Anukul Roy, he had a great domestic season, he was a very confident guy. We wanted to give him that chance. Today, he couldn’t bowl because of the left-hand-right-hand combination. But it was really heartening to see how those two built a partnership for us,” Rahane said.

Rinku Singh lost her father during India’s T20 World Cup campaign. However, the Uttar Pradesh cricketer decided to return to attend his funeral and join the team that eventually won the trophy.

Rinku and KKR will be hoping that the crucial match-winning innings in Kolkata will be the beginning of a turnaround for the left-handed batsman. Having not scored more than 200 runs since the 2023 season, the finishers will be keen to maintain the momentum they found against the Royals.

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