Why is Rinku Singh dropped from India's T20I squad against South Africa?
Rinku Singh has been left out of India's T20I squad for the series against South Africa. Notably, Rinku didn't get a chance to bat even once in the Australia series and also made it to the playing XI during the Asia Cup only in the final. But why has he been dropped?
India's 15-member squad for the T20I series against South Africa was announced today as the hosts left out Rinku Singh from the team. His exclusion has raised a lot of eyebrows as the southpaw didn't get a chance to bat on the Australia tour and also got only one game in the Asia Cup. Rinku last got a proper hit in the middle in a T20I back in February 2025 during the series against England at home.
He bats lower down the order and didn't get to bat in six out of his last 17 appearances for India in the shortest format. Moreover, during this period, Rinku managed only one fifty and a score of 30. Even in the four matches where he remained unbeaten, he didn't cross 11 runs (faced 14 balls maximum in those matches) and struggled to up the ante.
Rinku Singh is also struggling in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
In other matches, he failed to reach the double digits and got out early as well. At the same time, Rinku's form in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy has also not been great with only one score of more than fifty in four matches. His scores in the other three matches read - 4, 1 and 14.
Rinku Singh's scores in last 10 T20I innings (where he got a chance to bat)
| Score | Balls Faced | Strike Rate | Opposition (Year) |
| 4* | 1 | 400 | Pakistan (September 2025) |
| 9 | 6 | 150 | England (February 2025) |
| 30 | 26 | 115.38 | England (January 2025) |
| 8 | 13 | 61.53 | South Africa (November 2024) |
| 9 | 11 | 81.81 | South Africa (November 2024) |
| 11 | 10 | 110 | South Africa (November 2024) |
| 8* | 4 | 200 | Bangladesh (October 2024) |
| 53 | 29 | 182.75 | Bangladesh (October 2024) |
| 1 | 2 | 50 | Sri Lanka (July 2024) |
| 1 | 2 | 50 | Sri Lanka (July 2024) |
Even though the BCCI or the selectors have not given a specific reason for dropping Rinku Singh, it is mostly due to his form in the last few innings and in domestic cricket. On the flip side, one can also say that the selectors are allowing him to play domestic cricket to regain his form, as he will most likely warm the bench during the T20I series against South Africa.
With the T20 World Cup not far away, Rinku will have to find his form soon in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to return to the reckoning.
There is also a chance of the BCCI giving Rinku Singh a break for personal reasons but for now, after looking at his recent numbers, his form is also not great in the shortest format of the game.
India's squad for T20I series vs South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar
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