Perseverance through hard times has turned numerous ordinary individuals into extraordinary figures. There are very few who manage to keep going through the hard times and create a life for themselves that others can only dream of. Such is the story of 20-year-old Rinku Singh, an all-rounder from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, who has been bagged by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whooping sum of Rs 80 lakh.
Rinku started playing cricket in 2009 and swiftly made his way to the top of domestic Indian leagues. Couple of knocks, including 206 and 154 runs in two matches of Vijay Hazare trophy, drew the attention of selectors. In 2016, he made it to the Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy team and recently played in Delhi.
Struggling family conditions
Life was never easy for Rinku. He lives in a tin-roofed two-room quarter in an LPG distribution company’s storage compound, along with eight other family members. His father sells LPG cylinders in Aligarh. One of his brothers is an auto rickshaw driver and the other one works in a coaching institute.
After studying till STD 10, Rinku realized that he wasn’t interested in studying and channelled his focus entirely towards playing cricket. It was not easy for him to do so, because his family was debt-ridden, and paying it off after supporting the big family was never easy. Rinku did as much as he could on his part. He contributed his earnings that he received from playing matches. He gave his bike to his father for his LPG delivery purposes, a prize that he had won as man-of-the-series award in a tournament in Delhi.
But things did not change after that. Rinku once asked his brother to get him a job. He was asked to be a domestic worker, do sweeping and mopping. But he refused to do that.
Making a mark
Realizing his talent, Kings XI Punjab had signed him up last year but Rinku was disappointed not to feature in any of their matches. Instead of losing hope, he practised even more and impressed Mumbai Indians in a selection trial, where he smashed 91 runs off only 31 balls. Since then, Rinku had always been on the eyes of IPL franchises and he was eventually bought by KKR for four times his base price on January 28, 2018.
He intends to spend the money on organizing a grand wedding for his sister and also on moving into a better house along with his family.
“Life mein struggle bahut kiya, maybe God is repaying for those days,” says Rinku.
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