U23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy: Uncapped batter Sameer Rizvi, who scored a quickfire 14 off six balls in Chennai Super Kings’ 63-run win over Gujarat Titans (GT) earlier this week, revealed that he was very clear about going out and hitting big boundaries from the word go, which resulted in him hitting a first-ball six against Rashid Khan.
“When Rashid came to bowl in the 19th over, the coach told me if a wicket falls, you will go out to bat. After that, it was set in my mind that it was the 19th over and it was a spinner bowling and if they are sending me at this point of the match, anyone who walks in will be expected to smash boundaries. So, in my head, only one thing was going on – I have to go out and hit it big – I was clear about that,” said Rizvi to reporters in Chennai.
He also credited the practice done in playing against spinner under the tutelage of his childhood coach-cum-maternal uncle Tankeeb Akhtar. “If you look at my previous matches, I have always been playing well against spinners. Even at the nets, I have been playing well against spinb
“When I was a kid, my uncle (Tankeeb) was the one who made me practice batting against spin, he would bowl with tennis balls in a 30-yard circle. He would say if it goes out of that 30-yard circle it would be a six. So, slowly we kept practicing over the years.
The right-handed batter made his IPL debut in CSKs tournament opener against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but didn’t get to bat. By the time his turn came to bat against GT, the pressure of coming out to bat had all but vanished.
“Before I stepped onto the ground at the team meeting, I received my debut cap. And that’s when I found out I was playing the first match. I was a little nervous when I was fielding but I never got to bat.”
“But, in the second match, I mellowed down a bit and was not feeling nervous, there was no such pressure. I think I got used to the crowd after the match, so that’s why I was not feeling much pressure.”
Rizvi admitted it took him time to get accustomed to white-ball action after playing red-ball cricket, notably in Uttar Pradesh’s campaign at the U23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy, but found his groove soon.
“I had just come back from playing red-ball cricket and then to directly play white-ball…and making that shift immediately can be difficult. So, it took me two to three days to get used to it.”
“I was facing difficulty in the initial days, with the ball judgement but after a couple of days, I was able to hit it and adapt. Pace isn’t a problem for me. When there’s a ball change, format change, you have to change yourself too, so to adapt to that quickly, it takes some time.”
Rizvi signed off by recalling his first interaction with the legendary MS Dhoni in the CSK camp ahead of the tournament. “I met Dhoni bhaiya for the first time on March 16, when I joined the team. It was just a casual ‘hi, hello!’ and then we met on the ground.
“On the ground, he taught me a few tips on how to handle the pressure, and how to play in front of the crowd. He told me to play my natural game. It was a very nice feeling to be picked by CSK. It was my dream to meet and play with Mahi Bhaiya. And, that dream was fulfilled.
“Apart from that, I really did not expect to get picked by CSK or any other franchise for this amount (INR 8.4 cr). But I think they (CSK) showed faith in me, so I really liked that. One thing that I like most about this team is everyone backs one another, all of them are very helpful, it is amazing.”
With two out of two wins from its home matches, defending champions CSK will take on Delhi Capitals in their first away match of IPL 2024 at the ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday evening.
