KKR’s Rinku Singh: Struggling Story Of The Star Of IPL!

Rinku Khanchand Singh is an Indian cricket player who plays for the state of Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. A left-handed batsman and a right arm off break bowler, Rinku is part of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League.

On 9th April 2023, the cricketer shot to fame with his match-winning performance for KKR against Gujrat Titans. In a nail-biting finish, Rinku hit 5 sixes back to back in the last 5 balls, thus steering his team to victory.

The cricketer has a massive fan following on social media with a whopping 5,54,000  followers on Facebook and 4,50,000 followers on Instagram.

Physical Stats

Rinku Singh Family

Rinku was born on 12 October 1997. His father Khanchandra Singh worked with an LPG distribution company and he was involved in the job of delivering LPG cylinders to homes. The cricketer’s mother Vina Devi is a housewife.

Rinku’s family consisted of 9 members, and he was the third among five siblings. One of his brothers drives an auto rickshaw, another one works at a coaching center to earn a living and he also has a sister by the name of Neha.

Hailing from a poor financial background, Rinku’s family was living in a tin-roofed home housed inside the storage complex of the LPG distribution company where his father was employed.

Since Rinku’s father was struggling to make ends meet, he didn’t want his children to end up like him. Thus, he wanted his children to study and earn decent jobs. Though little Rinku was quite interested in playing cricket, his father was against the idea as cricket was not considered to be a viable career option during those times.

Rinku’s mother once asked her son to look for a job since their family was in need of money. At a coaching center, he was asked to do the job of sweeping and mopping. Since Rinku didn’t want to take up that job, he came back home and told his mother that he will try his luck in cricket so that they could make a living out of it. 

Rinku Singh Education

Rinku Singh studied at Delhi Public School. He was not good at his studies and failed in the 9th standard. 

Controversies

In May 2019, The Board of Cricket for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended Rinku for a period of 3 months for violating the board’s rules. The reason cited by the governing body was that the cricketer played in an unauthorized T20 tournament held in Abu Dhabi.

According to the clarification released by the BCCI, a player registered with the board must not play in any tournaments abroad without seeking its permission.

Hence effective June 1, 2019, Rinku was suspended for a period of three months and he was also removed from the then India ‘A’  team that was supposed to play a multi-day game against Sri Lanka ‘A’, scheduled to begin from May 31, 2019.

Rinku Singh Profession

In 2009, Rinku started playing cricket. Three years later, in 2012, he made it to the UP Under-16 team. The very next year, Rinku got selected for the UP Under-19 team. Later, the cricketer went on to play in the Under-23 levels and also represented the Central Zone at the Under-19 level.

In March 2014, when he was 16 years of age, Rinku made his List A cricket debut for Uttar Pradesh and emerged top scorer with 83 runs. Later, at the 2016-17 Ranji trophy, the cricketer made his first-class debut for his state.

In February 2017, Rinku was bought by Kings XI Punjab for the 2017 IPL. The following year, at the 2018 IPL auction, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a sum of Rs.80 lakhs.

Rinku’s notable performance at IPL includes scoring a quick 42 runs in 23 balls in the match against Rajasthan Royals which earned him the first Man of the Match award and a cheque of Rs.1 lakh as a reward.  

Rinku Singh Source Of Income

According to the report as of 2023, Rinku’s estimated net worth stands at Rs.6.12 crores.

Lesser Known Facts About Rinku Singh

• Three years back, Rinku’s family was reeling under a debt of Rs. 5 lakhs. While recollecting those difficult times, the cricketer once said in an interview that his father used to earn an income of  Rs. 6 to 7 thousand per month. He went on to add that he has struggled a lot in life and maybe God is repaying for those tough times.

• In the state team, Indian international cricketer Kuldeep Yadav is his close friend. Rinku says that they have lived like brothers. According to him, whenever they both used to watch horror movies, Rinku would end up sleeping in Kuldeep’s room out of fear.

• Rinku was awarded a bike for his outstanding performance in a school cricket match. Later, his father used that bike for delivering gas cylinders.

• Rinku still uses Scooty, a two-wheeler for commuting. Though he can afford to buy a car now, he does not have a four-wheeler license.

• Though Rinku bought a three-story house in the Rambagh colony, his father still stays at a two-room shack situated inside a gas cylinder stockyard.

• In August 2018, a match was held between Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat as part of the KSCA invitational tournament. To watch Shreyas Iyer’s batting, Rinku climbed up the interior boundary wall of the Platinum Oval in Alur so that he could get a 360-degree view.  

• When Rinku was bought by KKR for a whopping Rs. 80 lakhs at the IPL auctions, he was quite surprised as he expected the price to be 20 lakhs only. As soon as he got to know the news, the first thought that came to his mind was to contribute to his brother’s wedding and also save some money for his sister’s wedding.

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