Dinesh Karthik praises Abhishek Nayar for shaping Rinku Singh’s remarkable career

Dinesh Karthik shared a touching story of mentorship and triumph, highlighting the improbable bond between Abhishek Nayar and Rinku Singh.

India’s Rinku Singh celebrates after winning the first T20I | Photo Credit: PTI

Rinku Singh finished the last-over thriller for India with a winning six against Australia in the first T20I at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. 

The maximum, however, was not counted because Sean Abbott overstepped in the final delivery, and the no-ball preceded Rinku’s hit over the boundary lines, which resulted in India’s victory. 

Rinku was seen hugging former cricketer and Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Abhishek Nayar at the boundary lines after powering India to a two-wicket win. 

In a recent social media post, former cricketer Dinesh Karthik shared a touching story of mentorship and triumph, highlighting the improbable bond between Nayar and Rinku. 

“It was a partnership that started in 2018 during my time in KKR. Nayar always saw the potential in Rinku, he kept telling me, it was only a matter of time before he did something really special,” he wrote on  X, formerly known as  Twitter. 

This is one of the most fulfilling and heart warming pictures going around

The relationship between ABHISHEK NAYAR n RINKU SINGH

it was a partnership that started in 2018 during my time in KKR. Nayar always saw the potential in Rinku , he kept telling me, it was only a matter… pic.twitter.com/ia8nTJBElW

— DK (@DineshKarthik) November 24, 2023

“Coming from a small town in Aligarh, all he needed was to think big, and I think that shift in mindset was what Nayar worked with Rinku majorly about apart from fine-tuning his death hitting skills,” said Karthik.

He added, “And today when I see this photo, I feel like Nayar as a coach has grown in stature and can share the happiness he feels for Rinku and the rest of the world.

“Must be a surreal feeling seeing one of your students do well on a world stage and also be lucky enough to watch it live as a broadcaster and call the moment,” said Karthik.

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A post shared by Kolkata Knight Riders (@kkriders)

Rinku, the Asian Games gold medal winner in Hangzhou 2023, came into the limelight after hitting five consecutive sixes to Yash Dayal in the 20th over against Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, chasing down 31 in the last over.

India leads the five-match T20I series 1-0 and will play the second match in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.