After the Indian Men's Squad for the ICC T20 World Cup was announced on the 20th of December, a few changes might be taking place due to injuries or due to lack of form for any of the players.

The Indian Selectors took some bold calls in dropping the likes of Shubman Gill; however, some of the selections that were made did not seem to be right for the team's dynamics. The selections might have been made to suit the combination, but a weak link can cost the entire team when it comes to an ICC tournament.

The Indian team mostly has players who have provided consistent and promising performances over the last few months, with Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh being the only players who are making a return to the scheme of things after a notable absence.

With the kind of form and dominance Ishan Kishan showed during the recent edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he cannot be called out as a weak link in the side. Kishan also has promising T20I numbers for India in the past.

Rinku Singh might have had decent numbers for India, but the last time he played in a match before the Asia Cup final was against England in February, and the last time he played a significant innings for India was against Bangladesh back in October 2024.

Rinku Singh has been fairly out of touch, as a result of which he was sidelined from the Indian team; however, citing that he could come in handy in the T20 World Cup combination, the Uttar Pradesh batter was picked in the 15-member squad.

However, neither has Rinku been in touch in the format, nor does the batter have any other skill than batting, and moreover, with the likes of Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube all having a role to play with the ball, he is not ideal to replace any.

RCB's wicket-keeper can be roped in as a replacement

If Rinku is picked in the original playing XI, then his effectiveness would be a huge question, especially in the subcontinent, since he is not a very good player of spin bowling. Jitesh Sharma, the wicket-keeper, could have been a more reliable player down the order if backups were needed by India.

Another player who showed glimpses of fine form was young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Reddy played only three matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the Andhra Pradesh side and scored 70 runs at a healthy strike rate, and also picked up a hat trick in the game against Madhya Pradesh.

Also, the SRH all-rounder could be useful with both the bat and ball, and could be a like-for-like replacement for any of the all-rounders, especially with Hardik Pandya being very prone to injuries.

Rinku Singh's stats in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025

Rinku Singh was recently not a part of the national squad for the South Africa series, as a result of which he played the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season for his state team, Uttar Pradesh. The left-handed middle-order batter did not have a very promising run.

Coming out of a promising run with the bat in the Ranji Trophy, where he scored an unbeaten century against Andhra Pradesh, and then returning from Australia to continue his peak form against Tamil Nadu. However, going into SMAT, Rinku lost his spark and was dismissed for consecutive single-digit scores.

His only promising performance in the SMAT came against Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where he scored 65 and 45, respectively. In 7 games of the season, Rinku could only manage 172 runs at an average of 24.57 and just one half-century.