"Wasn't Selected Because...": Rinku Breaks Silence On Duleep Trophy Snub

The upcoming season of Duleep Trophy will be a great spectacle as many big names from India's senior men's team will be featuring in the domestic league. While senior stars including skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin received exemptions, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill are among the ones who will be playing in the Duleep Trophy. However, batter Rinku Singh was not included in the squad for Duleep Trophy which left all the fans utterly shocked.

The Kolkata Knight Riders batters rose to fame with his heroic performance in IPL 2023. Later on, he also played many brilliant knocks for India in white-ball cricket. However, he failed to find a place for himself among the 60 players, who were chosen by the BCCI for the Duleep Trophy.

Recently, the 26-year-old batter opened up on his snub and stated that his poor outing in domestic cricket is the main reason behind it.

"Nothing...I didn't perform that well (in domestic season). I didn't play many matches in the Ranji Trophy...I played 2-3 matches. I wasn't selected because I didn't play that well. I might get selected for next-round matches," Rinku told Sportstak.

In first class cricket, Rinku has played 47 matches and scored 3173 runs at a strike rate of 71.59. He has smashed seven centuries and 20 half-centuries.

Duleep Trophy 2024 will feature international stars such as Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, leading all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and pacer Mohammed Siraj.

T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, who had played one Test against Australia in 2023 has also been picked. Apart from Surya, the others have confirmed slot in the team.

India players were supposed to play only one match and hence Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah and Ashwin were given exemptions.

India are slated to play two Test matches against Bangladesh - from September 19 at Chennai and from September 27 at Kanpur.

(With PTI Inputs)