'Shastri, Miandad and now you': KKR head coach adds Rinku Singh's masterclass to epic Hall of Fame with stirring speech
Nitish Rana described it as one in a hundred, but head coach had bigger praise reserved for the youngster as he added Rinku to an epic Hall of Fame.
With Kolkata Knight Riders needing 29 off the final over against Gujarat Titans, where even the commentator had clearly written off the side, Rinku Singh went into God mode to smash five straight sixes off Yash Dayal to seal the visitors' chase of 205 runs. KKR skipper Nitish Rana described it as a one in a hundred, but head coach Chandrakant Pandit had bigger and more blockbuster praise reserved for the youngster as he added Rinku to an epic Hall of Fame.
Wjat made the knock even more enteratining was how it came about for KKR. Venkatesh Iyer, with his stunning 40-ball 83, had put KKR on track for a huge win in Ahmedabad on Sunday night before Alzarri Joseph's double whammy and Rashid Khan's record hat-trick put Gujarat comfortably in the driver's seat.
With 48 required in 18 balls, Rinku warmed up for the final over with a six and a boundary in the penultimate over before going all guns blazing against Yash to complete a thiller for KKR.
In a stirring dressing room speech after the match, KKR head coach Pandit made a stunning statement on Rinku's masterclass, putting it alongside Ravi Shastri's 6 sixes in Ranji Trophy and former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad's last-ball six against India in Sharjah.
“In 43 years of my cricket career, being coach, playing cricket, first class cricket and international, I've previously seen two innings. One is Ravi Shastri scoring six sixes in the Ranji Trophy, and second was last ball sixes by Javed Miandad in Dubai (Sharjah) and after that I'm seeing you (Rinku),” he said.
KKR later shared the video on Twitter with the caption: "How a winning dressing room sounds like!”
Despite the knock being beyond imagination for most who watched it Live on Sunday, KKR new of Rinku's capabilities and Rana admitted that he knew it the moment the second six was hit.
"Rinku had done it last year as well, although we didn't win the game then. But when he hit the second six [against Titans], the belief increased. Because Yash Dayal wasn't being able to execute, so somewhere, I did believe," Rana said. "As a captain, no matter what total we are chasing, it's very important to keep faith, but to be honest, out of a hundred matches, you will win one like this."
