'I had spoken to Mahi bhai once' - Rinku Singh reveals MS Dhoni's precious advice that helped him finish first T20I vs AUS

Young Indian batting sensation Rinku Singh has made a name for himself for finishing matches for his team ever since his historic five sixes against Yash Dayal in IPL 2023. The 26-year-old once again put his finishing prowess on display as he scored a brilliant 22* off 14 in the first T20I against Australia on Thursday, November 23 in Visakhapatnam.

Courtesy of his cameo, India registered their highest successful chase of 209 in T20Is. Following his match-winning knock, Rinku revealed his thoughts while walking into bat and termed it as the ‘perfect situation’ for him. He further said that he was looking to stay calm and take the game into the last over.

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“It was a perfect situation for me, I had played in these kinds of moments a lot of times now. It felt quite good to be playing with Surya bhaiyya. I think we needed about 40 runs in the last four overs. I was just trying stay calm and take it to the last over,” said Rinku in a video shared by BCCI.

Further speaking ahead, he disclosed the precious advice given to him by MS Dhoni who had told him to hit the ball straight in the final overs.

“I had spoken to Mahi bhai once. I was asking him what he does in the last over of a match. He was saying that you have to stay as calm as possible, and try to hit straight. That is what I try to follow, to remain quiet and not react to anything. That has helped me a lot,” he added.

India lost three wickets in the last over

Notably, Rinku guided India home from a precarious situation as they lost five wickets in the last 14 balls of their innings. Needing seven to win off the last over, the Aligarh-born cricketer hit a boundary off the first ball and took a single on the second to bring the equation down to 2 needed from 4. However, three wickets fell at the other end as India required 1 to win from the last ball.

Rinku held his nerve and returned on the strike to launch Sean Abbott for a six on the last ball to seal the win for India. However, the game was one even before the ball landed in the crowd as Abott had overstepped on the last ball resulting in a one-run penalty being awarded to India which took them over the line.

Apart from Rinku, captain Suryakumar Yadav played a magnificent innings of 80 off 42 balls and won the Player of the Match award. Earlier in the day, Josh Inglis scored the joint-fastest hundred in T20Is by an Australian (47 balls) and scored 110 (50) to help Australia post 208/3 in their allotted 20 overs.