Rinku Singh has been appointed the captain of Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The tournament is set to commence on December 21 (Saturday) with UP scheduled to face Jammu and Kashmir in their Group D clash in Vizianagaram. Rinku takes the captaincy from Bhuvneshwar Kumar who led the team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that ended last week.
This is the first time Rinku will be leading his state team at the senior level. He was the captain of Meerut Mavericks in the UP T20 league earlier this year and led them to the title scoring 210 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 161.54. Moreover, he has been retained by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2025 and the franchise is yet to announce its captain as well.
Having said that, Rinku is not thinking yet about the KKR captaincy and this stint with UP being the audition for the same. He is focused currently on planning for the UP team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and is willing to lead the team to the elusive title. “I am not thinking too much about the captaincy of KKR in the new IPL season. I am focused on my plans for Uttar Pradesh, as I want my team to regain the trophy we had won for the first time in 2015-16,” Rinku said.
“As captain of Uttar Pradesh, I have got a bigger role to play, and I’m ready for this,” Rinku added. The left-hander’s overall List-A numbers are pretty good as he has amassed 1899 runs in 52 innings at an average of 48.69 with one century and 17 fifties to his name. With the Champions Trophy set to be played next year in February, the selectors will have an eye on his performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.