Player:

One can either be a winner or a victim of a high price-tag in the IPL. That was the crossroads the then 20-year old Sameer Rizvi found himself at when he was picked up by the Chennai Super Kings for a whopping Rs. 8.4 Cr for the 2024 edition of the IPL. Dubbed the right-handed Suresh Raina, Rizvi hails from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh - the same state as his idol. It was his maternal uncle and later coach, Tanqib Akhtar, who set Rizvi’s course to pursue cricket. The youngster made a name for himself as a big-hitter and an excellent fielder - something that Raina himself recognized years earlier having gifted Rizvi a pair of sunglasses after being impressed by the then 8-year old’s fielding efforts - through age-group cricket. He was fast-tracked to Uttar Pradesh’s senior team and made his first-class debut during the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy aged just 16.

While opportunities at the first-class level remained rather sparse, Rizvi’s big break came after he struck 455 runs from nine innings, including a couple of centuries - with one of them being the fastest at the tournament (off 47 balls) - at the 2023 UP T20 League. The kinetic right-hander’s efforts quickly caught the eyes of IPL selectors and after sparking a bidding war at the auction, he was eventually and rather fittingly bought by the Chennai Super Kings. His IPL debut was nothing short of blockbuster. Coming to the crease in the 19th over and facing Rashid Khan, Rizvi smacked his first delivery for six and just a couple of balls later, he struck another one. He didn’t get too many opportunities thereafter but in the one he did, Sameer Rizvi made a mark.

Rizvi was bought by the Delhi Capitals for Rs. 95 lakh in 2025.