India skipper Rohit Sharma is impressed with the way Rinku Singh has come of age in the last few T20I series that the team has played and indicated that the youngster had the potential to be the finisher India were looking for going into the T20 World Cup in June.

One of the biggest positives emerging out of the third T20I against Afghanistan is the maturity shown by Rinku despite walking in to bat as early as the sixth over with the team tottering at 22 for 4, and remained unbeaten on 69 off 39 balls, finishing the innings with sixes off the last three deliveries.

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“In the last couple of series he’s played, he’s shown what he can do with the bat. He’s very fearless, keeps himself calm, he’s clear about his game plan and knows his strength pretty well,” Rohit said.

The 36-year-old said that Rinku fits the bill to the team management’s search of a finisher going forward, and expected him to carry on with the same intensity. At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday, Rinku and Rohit were involved in a record 190-run unbroken stand — the highest for India in T20Is for any wicket, to help India recover from a disastrous start.

“He’s coming of age and is doing the job that is expected of him. Every time he gets an opportunity he creates an impression. Last 10 innings for India, he has done really well and that augurs well for the team going forward,” the skipper said.

“We wanted somebody who could finish off games at the back end and bat with a very clear mindset and Rinku has shown that. The confidence is there in the guy. You saw how he played in the IPL and he’s carrying that through here as well,” he added.

Head coach Rahul Dravid also shared similar views on the young southpaw’s level of maturity, and said that Rinku is clear about his skills and understands his strong areas. In 11 T20I innings, Rinku now has 356 runs at an average of 89.00 and a strike rate of 176.23.

“For someone who is just starting out in international cricket, just the maturity he’s shown, the calmness is terrific,” Dravid said.

“We’ve seen him come in at the back end of an innings and finish games off, but today (Wednesday) to see him come in at 22 for 4 in the sixth over and to just build that partnership and show what he can do at the back end, it was very good for us to see that.”

“When we have these conversations with him, he’s very clear about his skills, what he knows what his strengths are, what he needs to work on and how he’s going to go about constructing his innings,” the former India captain added.

Dravid also heaped praises on Rohit’s ability to switch gears after a sedate start that saw India scoring 103 in the last five, including a record 58 in the last two overs. Rohit was on 55 off 47 balls at the start of the 16th over, and by the end of the innings he finished on 121 off 69.

Having begun the series with twin ducks, Rohit struck his fifth T20I century in India’s twin-Super-Over win in Bengaluru against a spirited Afghanistan.

“The thing with Rohit is the kind of range that he has, it’s hard to bowl at him when he’s set at the back end. You can’t bowl short because he’s really good with the pull, (can’t) bowl up and he’s got a great range as well. It’s really good to have him back, just his presence in the dressing room has been very helpful. Both Virat (Kohli) and him add a lot to this group,” Dravid said.

Throughout the 50-over World Cup, Rohit had set the early tempo, and was expected to carry forward in the same vein when he returned to the shortest format after a 14-month hiatus. On Wednesday, Rohit was seen bringing in a few variations to his run-scoring areas, such as the reverse-sweeps, a shot he isn’t known for but used it to good use in Bengaluru.

Reflecting on Rohit’s batting, Dravid said, “We’ve been chatting about it. We’ve been talking to a lot of our players about opening up square parts of the wicket, looking to use the sweeps and reverse sweeps, and practicing them.”

Dravid also expressed his happiness at the way Rohit led from the front and architected the innings, before raising his hands in both the super overs.

“It was nice to see that Rohit is again leading from the front in that department as well. He has just shown what a class player he can be. We were 22 for 4 at one stage and even when I went in [at drinks] in the 10th over, the talk was always about being positive.”

“Obviously, you had to protect the game a little bit (at 22 for 4). You always have the mindset of going out and set the pace of the game, but in games like this, sometimes you have to hold back a little bit. You can’t hold back too much at this ground because you know you need a big score, towards the end, and I thought that level of hitting was incredible,” he said.

Rahul also praised the smartness shown by the skipper when he retired himself to allow a quicker runner to be involved during the last ball of the first Super Over that ended in a tie. India eventually got over the line after the second Super Over.

“Taking himself out was Ashwin-level thinking,” Dravid said, likening the moment to Ravichandran Ashwin retiring out in an IPL match in 2022, the first case of a tactical retirement in that tournament.