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WATCH: Rinku Singh roars in celebration after taking first-ball wicket in UP T20 League
Rinku Singh
Team India star Rinku Singh made an immediate impact in the 2025 UPT20 League season opener between Meerut Mavericks and Kanpur Superstars at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, August 17. The Mavericks captain struck with his very first delivery, dismissing Adarsh Singh for just one run, helping his team post a massive 225 in the first innings.
During the Superstars' run chase, the dismissal came in the fourth over. Adarsh was bowled out by the part-time spinner's fuller-length ball. In an attempt to gain some space, the left-handed batter shifted to the leg side but was completely unsuccessful. Rinku took the wicket and celebrated aggressively.
Last year, Rinku Singh surprised everyone with his bowling performance for Team India. In the third T20I against Sri Lanka, he picked two crucial wickets while giving away just one run in the penultimate over, helping India level the match. Under Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy, India then triumphed in the Super Over to secure a 3-0 series sweep.
Rinku Singh has been picked in the India squad for Asia Cup 2025
Rinku Singh has been picked in the India squad for the T20 2025 Asia cup. The left-handed batsman scored 546 runs in 24 innings with the help of three half-centuries with a strike rate of 161.06
In the IPL 2025 season, he amassed 206 runs in 11 innings for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at a strike rate of 153.73. He scored 3,221 runs in 142 innings, which included 17 half-centuries.
Coming to bat first, the Mavericks posted a total of 225/2 in their 20 overs. Madhav Kaushik played an impressive unbeaten knock of 95 off 31 balls, which included seven sixes and 10 boundaries.
Rituraj Sharma also made an impression. Together, the two scored 130 runs for the third wicket. Akshay Dubey, got off to a strong start by hitting 44 off 26 balls, including two boundaries and four sixes. Bobby Yadav and Shubham Mishra each claimed one wicket.
In response, the Superstars managed to score only 139/9 in 20 overs as their batting collapsed. Sameer Rizvi was the top-scorer with 45 off 36 balls, which included three sixes and four boundaries, whereas Priyanshu Gautam also scored 34 off 20 balls.
Meanwhile, Kartik Tyagi, Yash Garg, and Vijay Kumar claimed two wickets each for the Mavericks, while Vishal Chaudhary, Rinku Singh, and Zeeshan Ansari grabbed one wicket.
