IPL 2023: KKR Coach Chandrakant Pandit Likens Rinku Singh Show To Two Historical Knocks

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Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit has likened the Rinku Singh show against Gujarat Titans on Sunday (April 9) to two historical knocks he has witnessed in his career.

Rinku Singh smashed 31 runs in the final over of the match to take KKR to a 3-wicket win, chasing down a huge target of 205 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in match 13 of IPL 2023.

Requiring 29 runs from 6 balls to win, the Uttar Pradesh batter hit GT pacer Yash Dayal for five maximums of the five balls after Umesh Yadav had taken a single off the first delivery of the ultimate over.

Following the match, the head coach Pandit delivered an emotional speech to the KKR dressing room, where he compared Rinku's last over heroics to two greatest events in the game.

"In my 43 years of cricket career, being a player coach in first class and international, I have previously seen two innings. That is, one, Ravi Shastri scoring 6 sixes in the Ranji Trophy and the second was last ball sixes from Javed Miandad in Dubai," Pandit said in a video posted by KKR.

"And after that, I'm see you (Rinku)," Pandit added as the whole squad and staff lauded as well as cheered for the diminutive left-handed batter, who scored an unbeaten 48 off 21 balls, that also earned him the player of the match award.

Singh was also awarded a momento by KKR CEO Venky Mysore as Pandit also credited Umesh Yadav, who scored the single off the first delivery of the over to hand the strike over to Rinku.

"So somebody scored 1 run in that last over first ball (referring to Umesh)," Pandit also added as he heaped praise on skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 29 balls) and Venkatesh Iyer (83 off 40 balls), who also played their hand in the winning cause.

"We must also appreciate Nitish (Rana) and Venkatesh (iyer)," conclued Pandit in the video posted by the official twitter handle of KKR on Monday (April 10).