Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu criticised Rinku Singh after Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a five-wicket loss against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday. Singh was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada after managing a solitary run off two balls against GT.

The left-hander has been in poor form as he has managed only 79 runs in five innings at an average of 19.75 and a strike rate of 117.91 in IPL 2026. Thus, the KKR vice-captain hasn’t been able to deliver the goods for the franchise in the ongoing season.

Rayudu questioned if Singh is working hard on his game after repetitive failures in the tournament.

Ambati Rayudu said on ESPN Cricinfo, “It’s a pattern with many Indian batters now. If you look at Tilak [Varma], him, Rishabh Pant and a lot of guys, they don’t use their feet anymore. People are getting away by bowling just lengths to them. Once you don’t use your feet, bowlers are always comfortable to bowl that length. Someone like Rinku likes accessing the square boundaries. It’s quite tough for him when the wickets are slow or you bowl wide to him because he doesn’t access much straight.

“It’s been almost 2-3 years that we are seeing this pattern. We are not seeing any improvement in their game. Are they working hard enough on their game coming into an Indian season or an IPL season? What are the changes that they are doing? It is a question that they need to ask themselves,” the 40-year-old went on to add.

The former CSK batter urged KKR to promote Rinku Singh in the batting order as he reckons the left-hander would play well against the new ball.

He said, “With the kind of setup that he has, he will be very good against the new ball early on. He likes to access square of the wicket and he’s a good timer of the new ball. On surfaces that are slightly fast and skidding, he can play a very good reverse sweep and slog sweep and still get runs.”

Singh would look to bounce back into form in the ongoing IPL 2026.