Remembering Khanchand Singh: The father who shaped Rinku Singh's rise

Rinku Singh's father, Khachandra Singh, passed away during India's T20 World Cup campaign after battling stage 4 liver cancer. The man who delivered gas cylinders in Aligarh played a defining role in shaping India's calm new-age finisher.

Rinku Singh’s journey has always been stitched together with quiet sacrifices. On February 27, that story lost one of its strongest pillars when his father, Khanchandra Singh, passed away after battling stage 4 liver cancer at Yatharth Hospital in Greater Noida.

The news came while Rinku was in the middle of India’s ongoing T20 World Cup campaign, balancing national duty with a deeply personal fight unfolding at home. He had briefly travelled back earlier when his father’s condition worsened ahead of the Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe, before rejoining the squad in Chennai.

Khanchandra had been on ventilator support and undergoing continuous renal therapy in recent days, but his health deteriorated rapidly. The loss now casts a shadow over what has otherwise been a dream-like rise for Rinku, one built on years of labour, belief, and resilience. Rinku Singh often credited his father for his rise. (Photo: Instagram/Rinku Singh)

For many fans, Rinku is the calm finisher who thrives under pressure. But long before the packed stadiums and India caps, his story began in the narrow lanes of Aligarh, where his father earned a living delivering LPG cylinders.

Even as Rinku started representing his country on the grand stage, Khanchandra stayed grounded in his routine, continuing to work through his son’s success and stepping away only when illness took over. It was a quiet reminder that for families like theirs, cricketing glory was built as much on endurance as on talent.

After the news broke of his demise, messages of support flowed in from across the cricketing world.