The ‘Impact Player’ rule, which has made IPL contests quite literally a “12-a-side affair”, has dealt a raw deal to power-hitter Rinku Singh who couldn’t make the Indian main squad for T20 World Cup as he simply did not have enough game time to his credit. The 26-year-old Aligarh left-hander, who captured the cricketing world’s imagination with five sixes in an over during the previous IPL, made way for Shivam Dube in the main national squad while his name ended up being among the reserves.
Dube got in thanks to more game time for Chennai Super Kings during the first 10 games of the league.
Those who were privy to the selection meeting held in Ahmedabad on Tuesday unanimously agreed that Rinku became an easy omission for the panel because he couldn’t be fitted alongside Hardik Pandya and Dube in the same 15.
“No doubt, Rinku paid the price for the Impact Player Rule. He is plain and simple unlucky. Hardik might be in poor form but he is still India’s best seam bowling all-rounder and it would have been a risk dropping him considering he is the only one who has bowled,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
