Former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull has rated Rinku Singh as one of the best finishers after the first T20I against New Zealand. Team India won the opening T20I against New Zealand convincingly by 48 runs at Nagpur on Wednesday. 

Singh, who got a chance in the starting XI after a long time, scored a crucial cameo of 44 runs off just 20 balls. The left-hander smashed four fours and three sixes to add the finishing touches and help India post 238 runs on the board. The southpaw scored his runs at an impressive strike rate of 220 as he batted at the top of his game.

Simon Doull said on Star Sports, “Rinku Singh is one of the best finishers in the game. We saw him burst onto the scene in the IPL four or five years ago, and I still feel he hasn’t played enough T20 cricket for India since then. He should have featured far more and could easily have played 100 games by now. Rinku needs to be backed in that finishing role because he is exceptional at it. Despite his height, he is incredibly powerful, and his ability to get under the ball at the death makes him extremely difficult to bowl to.”

On the other hand, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that New Zealand are not sure about their combination ahead of the T20 World Cup.

He added, “I think New Zealand want Phillips, at number four, yeah, but I just don’t think they know their entire combination yet. At the moment, T20 is probably Rachin Ravindra’s worst format with the bat. I think it should be Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, and then this man at number four, Glenn Phillips. I think that’s how the top four should look moving forward. Phillips is such a good player. I think Mitchell tends to need a little bit more time. And so number three suits him. I don’t think he’s the sort of player that can come out and just whack it from ball one.”

The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Raipur on Friday.