"Difficult To Choose One, But Still...": Ashish Nehra Picks India's Standout Performer In Australia T20Is

India batter Rinku Singh had a breakthrough series as India crushed Australia 4-1 to claim the five-match bilateral on Sunday. While Rinku might have scored just 105 runs in five-matches, his strike rate was an impressive 175, more than any other batter. The selectors have awarded Rinku with a place in India's T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming tour of South Africa, starting December 10. Former India pacer Ashish Nehra feels while it is difficult to choose the standout player from the series win over Australia, he would name Rinku if he had to pick one star.

"Everyone. It's difficult to choose one, but still Rinku Singh, because of the sort of knocks he has played, especially in the last (fourth) match. Rinku Singh is generally known for achieving the target when the team needs 50-60 runs after the 15th or 16th over. Here he had to play a different role and he showed that by doing it. You might talk as much as you want about the circumstances being easy, or the pitch being flat, but even that wasn't the case there," Nehra said on Jio Cinema.

Ahead of the fifth and final T20I, Nehra had claimed that Rinku has made a strong case for himself, as far as India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad is concerned.

"There is no doubt that Rinku Singh is a contender for inclusion in India's T20 World Cup squad. But the World Cup is still far away and the spot he is fighting for has many challengers. You can look at Jitesh Sharma (the wicketkeeper batsman) and Tilak Varma. We will have to discuss the positions where Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya will play. So, we have to see how many spots are available in the 15-member squad. But one thing is sure, he has opened everyone's eyes and put everyone under pressure. But there is still a lot of time to go. The trip to South Africa is coming up followed by the IPL," explained  Nehra.

Since making his India debut, Rinku has scored 180 runs in 10 T20Is at an average of 60 and a strike rate of over 187.5, with the best score of 46. He has been impressive with his hitting, smashing 16 fours and 11 sixes across 88 balls faced so far. He has scored 130 runs through fours and sixes itself.