Rinku and Rana: A relationship built on hope and faith

Rinku’s promise is singular but he couldn’t have come this far without Nitish Rana’s support.

Years of tossing and turning, pairing contrasting genres of batters, often of different nationalities and Kolkata Knight Riders have finally come upon Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh as that all-season couple delivering hope when there has been little else to fuel expectations.

Rinku Singh (front) with Nitish Rana (KolkataKnightRiders Twitter)

This took some time in the making. But even if KKR were to lose and be ousted from the Indian Premier League on Saturday, they will leave knowing they have hit an Indian formula that buoys innings in the middle overs before finishing thrillers in spectacular fashion; not always together but definitely one of the two.

The most immediate selling point of Singh and Rana is their 99-run stand against Chennai Super Kings, on a turning track at Chepauk in their last match which allowed KKR to stay relevant in the IPL. Bigger picture? Just their numbers alone. Both have just over 400 runs, at a similar strike rate of 143 as well. Together, they have hit 45 out of the 118 sixes hit by KKR—a phenomenal conversion rate considering Singh bats lower than every other batter with at least 20 sixes to his name.

Singh commenced this season emphatically, hitting five sixes against Gujarat Titans, but Rana took some time to warm up. Chennai, that way, was a confluence of the best of Singh and Rana in trying conditions when they desperately needed a win to stay afloat.

This is an Indian pair by the way, with just three international caps between them, trying to hold its place in an IPL churn where Jos Buttler complements Yashasvi Jaiswal, Faf du Plessis backs Virat Kohli and Devon Conway plays the perfect foil to Ruturaj Gaikwad before the six-hitting artillery comprising Glen Maxwell, Shivam Dube, Marcus Stoinis, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer descend on bowlers.

More than a pair actually. Singh and Rana’s kinship runs deeper than what meets the eye, something Singh struggles to articulate in words.

“You can say we have an understanding,” he had told HT before the IPL began. So well-known is their understanding that no one barring Rana speaks to Singh during timeouts. As for Rana, he can’t stop being an unabashed supporter of Singh. “I just keep telling Rinku, believe in yourself because what you have achieved is something not many people ever will,” Rana had said after the Punjab Kings win at home.

You can immediately sense the pride, almost of a guardian watching his ward excel and fulfill his potential. “When he was batting, the whole crowd was chanting 'Rinku, Rinku'. That is what he has earned this year. I've been at this franchise for many years now, I'm used to the Eden crowd screaming 'Russell, Russell' but to hear them shout 'Rinku, Rinku' makes me feel very happy and proud. That's the respect he has earned this season.”

An offshoot of this belief is Rana’s penchant to make happen whatever Singh needs to turn up at the game. Like in the Gujarat Titans game where Singh hit five sixes in a row, with Rana’s bat.

“I played the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy with this bat, even four or five matches of last season,” Rana had said in an interview after that match. “Today I changed my bat. Rinku asked for my bat but I didn’t want to give him my bat initially. Somebody had brought this bat to the ground though and I had a feeling that he would pick it because it has a very nice pickup. From now on, this bat belongs to Rinku, not me.”

There is a touch of inclusivity to their partnerships too. Rana claims to play just one brand of cricket—that if a ball deserves to be hit, he will go after it. But the upturn in his innings is more obvious. Rinku typically plays second fiddle in the middle overs, backing himself to temper his innings and staying almost undetected in the buildup.

And when the occasion finally calls for it, he comes up with the shots. His promise is singular, in that everyone acknowledges the quality Singh brings to the game. But Singh would also be the first to acknowledge that he couldn’t have come so far without Rana’s blind faith in him. In what has been a largely inconsistent campaign for KKR, this dynamic remains one of its most enduring features.