Rinku Singh sent a strong message to Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 with a blistering hundred in the ongoing UP T20 League at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Leading Meerut Mavericks from the front, captain Rinku slammed eight sixes for his 48-ball 108 not out in his side’ six-wicket win over Gaur Gorakhapur Lions.

Chasing 168 runs, Meerut Mavericks were four wickets down for just 38 runs in the eighth over. Unleashing a brutal assault on the Gaur Gorakhapur Lions bowlers, Rinku first raced to his fifty in just 32 balls before taking another 13 deliveries for his next fifty runs at a strike rate of 225 to lead Meerut Mavericks to victory with seven balls to spare.

The highlight of Rinku’s innings came in the penultimate over when he smashed Gorakhpur Lions bowler Vasu Vats for three consecutive sixes, thus recalling memories of his five sixes in an over for Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans’ Yash Dayal in 2023 season of IPL. The win also helped Meerut Mavericks rise to the third position in the points table.

Rinku Singh justifies Asia Cup 2025 selection

Having been selected over Washington Sundar in the 15-member squad for Asia Cup 2025, the inclusion of Rinku did raise a few eyebrows, considering his not so good form with the bat in recent times. However, Rinku’s UP T20 League hundred answered to all those critics.

Having said that, Rinku’s place in the Indian playing XI at the Asia Cup 2025 isn’t guaranteed as the senior men’s thinktank will have a major headache to form the batting order including both Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill. Rinku’s last T20I came against England earlier in February.

Addressing Rinku’s selection ahead of Sundar, BCCI chief Ajit Agarkar stated they felt the need of an extra batter. “He (Sundar) has always been in the scheme of things. At the moment, we have two mystery spinners/wristspinners in Varun and Kuldeep, and Axar has been around for a while. When we need four spinners, he may always be in the mix. For now, we felt we needed an extra batter in Rinku.

“And you could only pick 15. If there were 16, maybe he could’ve been in,” stared Agarkar while addressing the media in Mumbai recently.