Rinku Singh added to a fifty in his first game of the 2025/26 Vijay Hazare Trophy with a 56-ball hundred in his next, against Chandigarh today (December 26).
Rinku Singh hits second List-A hundred
Rinku was picked in India’s T20 World Cup squad, which was announced on December 20, and celebrated his return to the T20I side by slamming a 48-ball 67 in Uttar Pradesh’s opening Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Hyderabad just four days later.
Walking in at 197-3 in the 37th over to join Dhruv Jurel in the middle, he completed his 50 off 42 balls before adding another 17 runs off his next six deliveries to power UP to 324. Leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari’s four-for then took the north Indian side to the win.
The southpaw followed up the fifty with a quickfire century against Chandigarh on December 26. Batting at No.5 after Aryan Juyal and Jurel had given the team a solid start, Rinku brought up his 50 off 35 deliveries with a maximum. He took six balls to score his next six runs before letting loose. The next 39 runs came off just 15 balls as he completed his century in 56 deliveries, his second ton in List-A cricket. He finished unbeaten on 106 off 60 balls.
UP posted 367 – their second 300+ total in two games – before Ansari came to the party again with a four-for as Chandigarh were bowled out for 140.
Match 30, Chandigarh vs Uttar Pradesh
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Rinku Singh picked in 15-man squad for T20 World Cup
Rinku was omitted from India’s T20I squad for the five-match series against South Africa earlier this month, raising doubts about whether he would be selected for the upcoming home World Cup. But as it turned out, he regained his spot for the ICC event and the New Zealand series, with wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma making way.
Jitesh's modest returns in recent games, coupled with the selection of another wicketkeeper-batter in Ishan Kishan, were the reasons the former was dropped, creating an opening for a finisher in the team.
India 2026 men's T20 World Cup squad
Batters: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh.
Wicketkeepers: Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson.
All-rounders: Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar.
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
