CHENNAI: If Ashutosh Sharma was Delhi Capitals' go-to man in the last season, this year, it could well be Sameer Rizvi. Saturday was yet another example of Rizvi proving his worth as a middle-order batter, rescuing the hosts after an early blip against Mumbai Indians with a 90-run knock that set up their six-wicket win.
Days after guiding his side home from 26/4 against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium, Rizvi was tasked to negate the pressure and help his side chase 163 on a two-paced deck at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. With both KL Rahul and Nitish Rana dismissed in the first two overs, the scoreboard read 7/2 when Rizvi walked in to bat. The UP batter had to take the cautious route to keep the opposition bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, at bay. He then showed that his first knock at Lucknow was not a one-time thing.
On a day where spinners called the shots, Rizvi took them to the cleaners. He scored 27 runs off 18 balls against MI spinners, at a strike rate of 150. One part of his ability to hit spin well stems from the practice with his uncle and former cricketer Tankeeb Akhtar. "He (Tankeeb) would bowl with tennis balls in a 30-year 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 had said in 2024. The reward was there to see. He slammed Mayank Markande over long off to bring up his fifty. In the very next ball, he raced down the pitch and lofted the spinner through the line for another maximum.
While he took on spinners with ease, his display against the pacers may have given the Delhi crowd something to cheer on — 63 runs off 33 balls came against pace. After patiently negating till the tenth over, where he scored 25 off 23, Rizvi knew he had to up the ante. First, he blasted the slower delivery of Corbin Bosch over mid-off for four. Next ball, he ducked against a short delivery that did not bounce as expected before upper cutting in the last moment. Against both Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur, Rizvi was at his ruthless best.
He punished Chahar's slower ball by making room and thrashing it through the off side. A few balls later, Chahar missed a yorker and Rizvi sent it into the backward square leg stands.
"I've worked a lot. I've worked on my weaknesses, I wasn't as good against fast bowlers. I try to play according to the situation. I took time, got set and then played my shots. I tried to watch the ball as long as possible. If you score runs here, you get a lot of confidence and opportunities for us youngsters," Rizvi told the broadcaster after the match.
Brief scores: MI 162/6 in 20 ovs (Suryakumar 51; Mukesh Kumar 2/26) lost to DC 164/4 in 18.1 ovs (Rizvi 90, Nissanka 44)
