Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has showered praise on Rinku Singh after Team India won the opening T20I against New Zealand convincingly by 48 runs at Nagpur on Wednesday. Ashwin said Rinku is a proper team man and does everything for the team.

Singh, who got a chance in the starting XI after a long time, scored a crucial cameo of 44 runs off just 20 balls. The left-hander smashed four fours and three sixes to add the finishing touches and help India post 238 runs on the board. The southpaw scored his runs at an impressive strike rate of 220 as he batted at the top of his game.

Ashwin highlighted that the finisher role is not easy as one is bound to get more failures than success.

“Rinku Singh did not get picked in the last World Cup but he was very close. You will not get a lot of success in the finisher role. There will be ups and downs. But he is a team man. He can do anything for the team. He got an opportunity today. The way Abhishek and Hardik batted, to bat with that license, you need a player like Rinku in the middle who can take the pressure and later score as well the way he did,” Ashwin said on ‘Ash ki Baat’.

On the other hand, Ashwin noted that Shreyas Iyer has worked on his technique while facing the short deliveries. The former off-spinner said he wants Iyer to continue his purple patch for a long time.

“I think Shreyas had worked a lot on his short-ball game. There is definitely a development in that. But he is a guy who can be innovative. He likes trying things, he doesn’t like to keep it the same. That is a quality that should be applauded. He has a good record and has been unfortunate at times. I hope everything goes good for him and I want to see him have a long purple patch,” Ashwin said.

The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Raipur on Friday.