CHENNAI : Tankeeb Akhtar is filled with delight. One can sense jubilation in his voice, and understandably so. After all, Sameer Rizvi — his nephew and student for the past 15 years — took an important step in his life so far on Tuesday. Walking out to bat for the first time in the Indian Premier League in the Chennai Super Kings' home game against Gujarat Titans, Rizvi smashed Rashid Khan for a six in the very first delivery.
Rizvi did not stop there. Two balls later, he stepped down to Rashid and lofted him into the Madras Cricket Club stands of the MA Chidambaram Stadium. That Rashid being taken down itself is rare, but what makes it all the more extraordinary is, Rizvi — who has played all off 11 senior T20s for his state — facing the best T20 spinner in the world with little to no nerves and slog sweeping him into the stands on the very first delivery he faced. Rizvi went on to hit 14 off six balls before getting out in the final over.
"We have been waiting for this day for years and it has finally come, very very happy. And it was a good debut, to go up against someone like Rashid Khan and hit a six off the very first ball in the IPL, it could not get any better," Tankeeb told this daily. "We have worked 15 years for this. All we had in our minds was that Bas karna hai (we have to do this). No matter what, we have to do this and God has been kind. He has done well and I can say that he will do wonders if he gets more chances," he added.
Ask Rizvi how it felt, the youngster, very unlike his swashbuckling batting, has a calm response. For him, head coach Stephen Fleming had already said that if a wicket fell, he would walk in. "After that, it was set in my mind that it was the 19th over 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 with unassuming nonchalance.
What has also helped Rizvi is that even though it was his first IPL innings, he had made the match debut in the opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He was told in the morning of the game and was given the cap during the team meeting. Albeit nervous, the fact that he was on the field throughout the match and did not have to bat helped Rizvi soak in the experience without additional pressure. "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 like I was under pressure," said the CSK batter.
None of this comes as a surprise to Tankeeb, for it has been his journey as much as it is Rizvi's. Leaving Amroli Urf Baragoan village to become a cricketer, Tankeeb moved to Meerut, staying with his sister and Rizvi's mother Rukhsana Khatoon in 2004. Once he realised his dream was slipping away, he became a coach and has been working with Rizvi from the age of six. The training would begin at 8 am in the morning and go on till 7 in the evening, with fitness, batting, fielding all packed into the regimen. And it continued for years. The spin-hitting ability of Rizvi, which is visible to the cricketing world, is a byproduct of this hard work he had put in with Tankeeb.
"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," Rizvi recalled. Tankeeb elaborates further: "In our ground, we have good spinners and when you play good bowlers from a young age, it will become easier as you keep playing. He used to play them right from his childhood. He was 11 and spinners were 19 and he kept playing. I was standing behind and kept instructing on what the bat speed should be and how the weight transfer should be and the rewards are there to see."
Rizvi's skill and talent apart, what has come as a surprise for many is how CSK — known for banking on experience — have given the youngster a go in the very first game of the season. While the youngster is living his dream — sharing a dressing room with MS Dhoni — even he did not expect to be signed by the franchise and that too for `8.4 crore. While he found it difficult to adjust from red ball to white ball in the first couple of days during the pre-tournament camp, soon Rizvi was at home in Chepauk. "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," he said.
Tankeeb, once again, is not at all surprised. The coach remembers telling Rizvi even at a young age how the moment he gets signed by an IPL franchise, chances will come knocking. "I knew that he had extraordinary talent. He got noticed a bit later but he has been talented from a young age. Once you get in, playing XI will automatically happen because the way he bats, see if a kid bats well as you pass by, you would stop and watch for 10 minutes. And that is his story. The way he was hitting, I told him also that once you get into the squad, playing XI will happen. Everyone is seeing and they also like it," said Tankeeb.
Indeed, they are going to stop and watch Rizvi bat for more than just ten minutes.