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Rinku Singh justifies Asia Cup 2025 selection with stunning ton in UPT20, smacks 108* off 48 balls with 8 sixes
In the penultimate over, Rinku Singh smacked a hat-trick of sixes, off Gorakhpur bowler Vasu Vats, as he got his ton off only 45 balls.
Rinku Singh was in dominant form on Thursday in the ongoing UPT20 in Lucknow. He played a captain’s knock for Meerut Mavericks, slamming eight sixes during his 48-ball stint, as his side defeated Dhruv Jurel’s Gaur Gorakhpur Lions by six wickets, at the Ekana Stadium. He slammed an unbeaten knock of 108 runs as his side chased down 168 runs, with seven balls remaining.
Meanwhile, in the penultimate over, he smacked a hat-trick of sixes, off Gorakhpur bowler Vasu Vats, as he got his ton off only 45 balls. His knock consisted of seven fours and eight sixes, at a strike rate of 225.
The win saw Meerut climb to third position in the standings. The knock also perfectly justified his selection for the 2025 Asia Cup. It raised some eyebrows as Washington Sundar wasn’t included in the roster.
Explaining Rinku’s selection, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said, “He [Sundar] has always been in the scheme of things. At the moment, we have two mystery spinners/wristspinners in Varun and Kuldeep, and Axar has been around for a while. When we need four spinners, he may always be in the mix. For now, we felt we needed an extra batter in Rinku. And you could only pick 15. If there were 16, maybe he could’ve been in.”
Jurel (38) and Akashdeep Nath (23) took Gorakhpur to 167. Meanwhile, Nishant Kushwaha (37) also played a decent knock. But Rinku made the run chase look easy, as he single-handedly guided his team to victory.
