Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has endorsed Rinku Singh’s selection in India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad, backing the southpaw as a key hitter against pacers.
Although Ashwin hailed Jitesh Sharma as a brilliant hitter of the ball, he highlighted that Rinku holds an edge against fast bowlers.
Rinku was recently left out from the T20I squad against South Africa but has now been included for the World Cup.
Reacting to India’s squad, Ashwin said that with Sanju Samson all set at the top of the order, the defending champions needed a batter who could take on pace alongside Hardik Pandya, a role in which Rinku fits perfectly.
“If Sanju Samson at the top of the order is locked in for you and Ishan Kishan as the backup wicketkeeper is also locked in, then what is left? You need a hitter against pacers to go along with Hardik," Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
“And who can do that better than Rinku Singh? Because when you compare Jitesh Sharma and Rinku Singh, I have gone a bit deeper into the numbers. People can go and check. Against spin, Jitesh Sharma is a monster hitter, but against pace bowling and towards the end of the innings, Rinku Singh has great numbers, along with pedigree and experience," Ashwin added.
In the same video, Ashwin also backed the Suryakumar Yadav-led side to defend the T20 World Cup title at home.
“I have another feeling that with this squad and the way they are playing cricket, it will come down to the day. I think India are firm, firm favourites. The way the squad has been picked and seeing that other teams aren’t picking Varun Chakaravarthy, I am ending up feeling that India will go in not only as firm favourites, but it will take India having a really bad day and a poor start to the tournament for them to face any sort of trouble," Ashwin remarked.
India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan
