From gas cylinders to 5 sixes in 5 balls. His father delivered LPG cylinders across Aligarh to keep the family alive.
Rinku Singh almost took a job as a domestic worker.
Then one night in Ahmedabad, with 28 runs needed off 5 balls and a 1.29% chance of winning, he did something nobody had ever done in IPL history.
This is that story. From the beginning.
The Boy From Aligarh Nobody Believed In
Rinku Khanchand Singh was born October 12, 1997 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Growing up in a two room flat, his father worked every single day delivering gas cylinders. No money, no connections, no shortcuts.
Cricket was the only way out. However, cricket doesn’t guarantee anything.
At just 16, he made his List A debut, grinding through UP age group cricket season after season with nobody watching. Although Punjab Kings bought him in 2017, he never played a single game for them.
Then KKR came in 2018. Just 80 lakh a small number in IPL terms. Nevertheless, for a family counting every rupee, it meant everything.
Four Years Waiting. Zero Games. What Kept Rinku Singh Going?
From 2018 to 2021, Rinku barely played.
In 2018 he scored just 29 runs. Then in 2019, only 37 more. Furthermore, a BCCI suspension followed for playing an unauthorised tournament in Abu Dhabi the mistake of a young man desperate for game time.
However, he came back stronger. By 2022, he had accumulated 174 runs in seven games. Enough to stay. Not enough to shine.
Most players would have quit by then. Rinku didn’t.
Heading into 2023, he had long conversations with UP coach Ajay Ratra about handling pressure. Additionally, he worked on his technique at the KKR Academy in Mumbai. Beyond cricket, he also carried a deeply personal motivation proving himself so his girlfriend’s family would accept him.
Finally, he was ready. He just needed the moment.
April 9, 2023: The Night KKR Had A 1.29% Chance Of Winning
KKR chasing 205 against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
Venkatesh Iyer hits 83 off 40 balls. Nitish Rana adds 45. KKR are right in the game. Then Alzarri Joseph strikes twice. Then Rashid Khan bowls his final over.
Three googlies. Russell out. Narine out. Thakur out. A hat trick Rashid’s fourth in T20 cricket, a world record.
KKR needed 50 from four overs. Now they need it with two more wickets gone in three balls.
The official win probability at that moment: 1.29%.
Rinku Singh is at the crease. He has scored 4 off 7 balls. He looks stuck. The game looks completely dead.
One over left. Yash Dayal to bowl.
Ball By Ball. The Six Balls That Changed Everything.
29 needed off 6 balls.
Ball 1 — Umesh Yadav faces: Slower bouncer outside off. Top edge falls safely. Single taken. 28 needed off 5.
This is where history starts.
Ball 2 — Full toss outside off: Rinku reaches out and hammers it over extra cover. SIX. 22 needed off 4.
Dayal’s hands are shaking. You can see it.
Ball 3 — Full toss on the pads: Whipped over backward square leg without hesitation. SIX. 16 needed off 3.
Immediately, Rashid Khan and David Miller sprint to Dayal. An emergency meeting at the pitch. They need a plan.
Ball 4 — Full toss again. Third in a row: Over long off. SIX. 10 needed off 2.
The stadium erupts. Furthermore, nobody in that ground can process what they are watching. Another timeout follows as Shubman Gill joins the huddle four men desperately trying to find one delivery that can stop this man.
Ball 5 — Back of hand slower one, short of length: The plan is to deceive him with pace. However, Rinku waits, reads it perfectly and flat bats it over long-on. SIX. 4 needed off 1.
Meanwhile, the KKR dugout has completely lost its mind.
Ball 6 — Short ball outside off: One last attempt from Dayal. Rinku hits it clean over the bowler’s head. Moreover, before the ball even clears the boundary, Rinku is already sprinting toward his teammates flooding onto the field.
SIX. KKR win by 3 wickets with 0 balls remaining.
The Numbers That Put It In Perspective
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Runs chased in last over | 29 IPL record |
| Previous IPL record | 23 runs |
| Win probability before last over | 1.29% |
| Dayal final figures | 0/69 second most expensive IPL spell ever |
| Players with 5 consecutive sixes in IPL | Gayle, Tewatia, Jadeja and now Rinku |
Rinku finished 48 not out off 21 balls. Player of the Match.
The scorecard tells you what happened. It cannot tell you what it felt like.
What Happened After Those Five Sixes
The morning after, Rinku Singh woke up famous.
Within months he went from unknown finisher to India cap. T20I debut against Ireland in August 2023. 38 off 21 balls on debut. Then 31 off 9 against Australia. Then 68 not out off 39 against South Africa.
His T20I numbers by end of 2023 told the full story: average of 65.50, strike rate of 180.68. A finisher India had been searching for years.
Asian Games gold medal. IPL 2023 highest scorer for KKR with 474 runs at an average of 59.25.
One over. Five sixes. An entire life transformed.
The Father Who Delivered Gas Cylinders Never Saw His Son Become A Legend
Behind every highlight reel there is a real person. However, with Rinku, that person’s story is deeper than most.
One of the lesser known details about 2023 is the personal motivation driving him. He needed to prove himself so his girlfriend’s family would accept him. That hunger, raw and personal, made him different from everyone else on that field.
Eventually, he got married, earned the India cap, and achieved everything he had worked for since watching his father carry gas cylinders through Aligarh.
Then in 2026, during the T20 World Cup, his father passed away from liver cancer. The man who had sacrificed everything never got to see the full extent of what his son became.
After performing the last rites, Rinku returned to the squad almost immediately skipping the 13 day Hindu mourning period only to be dropped from the playing XI. Furthermore, the form that followed told the story of a man still processing a loss that no cricket statistic can ever measure.
Five Full Tosses. Five Sixes. Genius Or Fortune? You Decide.
People still debate whether those five sixes were genius or fortune. However, the answer is simpler than it looks.
Yes, Dayal bowled three consecutive full tosses. But staying calm when the numbers say 1.29% that is not luck. Instead, that is character built through years of rejection, patience and poverty.
After the match, KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit said it perfectly:
“I have never seen him under pressure. He seems to like those challenging situations. That’s his character.”
A boy from Aligarh who almost became a domestic worker. Four years on the bench. Five sixes when nobody believed it was possible.
From delivering gas cylinders to five sixes in five balls. That is not luck. That is a life’s worth of hunger arriving at exactly the right moment.
Moreover, the real question was never about luck. It was always about who shows up when everything is against them.
Legend or lucky? You already know the answer.
Moreover, the real question was never about luck. It was always about who shows up when everything is against them.
Legend or lucky? You already know the answer.
Those 5 sixes changed Rinku Singh’s life forever. But would it have happened against a different bowler? Or was this always his destiny? Tell us in the comments.
