“There was intensity, but no hesitation,” PTI quoted Rinku Singh as saying after leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to their first IPL 2026 victory over Rajasthan Royals on Sunday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata with a timely, confidence-boosting unbeaten 53 under pressure.
Even though his emotions were running high, Rinku maintained his calm and used controlled aggression to win the game when he entered with the chase in jeopardy.
“Sometimes it happens like that when a few things don’t go your way, so you feel that intensity. But it wasn’t like I was hesitating or unsure about playing my shots. My mindset was to take the game till the end,” PTI quoted the KKR vice-captain as saying in the post-match presentation.
The left-hander, who has been looking for a significant hit this season, took full advantage of an early reprieve to shift the game in KKR’s favor.
“That’s what happens sometimes. The mind doesn’t work properly and you end up playing such shots. But thankfully, luck was on my side and we eventually won the match,” he said.
Rinku acknowledged that the innings was long overdue and essential to his confidence.
“I had played quite a few innings and was waiting for a big one. This was a very good innings for me and also very important for my confidence.”
Rinku, who is well-known for his versatility, reaffirmed his readiness to bat anywhere in the order.
“There’s nothing like a fixed position for me. I can bat at number five, lower down the order, or even at number four. Wherever the team needs me, I’m ready.”
The victory—KKR’s first of the season—may act as a launching pad for the team.
“This will give us a lot of confidence because this is our first win of the season. From here, we will carry this momentum forward,” he said.
The mood was shared by captain Ajinkya Rahane, who described it as an emotional and crucial breakthrough following a dismal run.
“Really happy to be here. Feels really good. There were a lot of emotions during the game,” Rahane said, singling out Rinku and the bowlers for praise.
“I’m really happy for Rinku, Anukul (Roy) and Varun (Chakravarthy). The way Varun bowled… Anukul had a fantastic domestic competition.”
Rahane acknowledged the need to get better with the bat and emphasized the value of game awareness.
“It’s about reading the situation well. Cricket is a simple game. This victory will give us confidence. The bowlers are coming nicely together. Batting wise, we can still improve.”
Rahane also praised young pacer Kartik Tyagi for his confidence and lucidity and cited the team’s repeated bad starts as a reason for their difficulties.
“We’ve had a bad powerplay for the last three games. Sometimes I feel strike rate is overrated and this was a great escape for us. As a batting unit, we need to learn very quickly.”
Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag bemoaned expensive fielding errors that turned out to be crucial.
“I thought it was a 170-run wicket, we fell 10 runs short. Errors from our side. We can’t be dropping catches, that cost us the game,” Parag remarked about his side’s fielding as Rinku was dropped early in his innings.
He believed that although his team found the correct strategy with spin on a favorable surface, they were unable to execute it, particularly in the second half of the innings.
“There was a lot of spin on the wicket. I thought spin was the way to go. The platform was set, but the execution went wrong. We wanted to go hard in the last five overs, but that didn’t happen,” he added.
