Among the high-profile 20-crore-plus buys of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins at the Indian Premier League 2024 mini-auction, there was another deal that caught the layviewer's eye. It was that of the 20-year-old Sameer Rizvi, who was bought by Chennai Super Kings for INR 8.4 crore in Dubai on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. (Blog | Streaming | Full Coverage)
Being an uncapped player, Rizvi was not known by many before he was snapped up for big bucks. But for those who have followed the youngster's prowess in the domestic circuit recently, the deal did not come as a surprise.
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The Uttar Pradesh batter shot to limelight after the recent UP T20 League, where he scored 455 runs in nine innings, including two centuries, for the Kanpur Superstars. He was the highest run-getter in the Under-23 List A tournament, and hit a match-winning 50-ball 84 in the final to help his team clinch the title.
Rizvi also exhibited his big-hitting capability in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this season. He struck 18 sixes, smashing one of every 11 balls he faced on an average.
The youngster, who had a base price of INR 20 lakh, caused a bidding war between CSK and Gujarat Titans before Delhi Capitals joined in. But CSK made sure they got him, even though they had to shell out more than INR 8 crore for it.
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During the IPL mock auction on Jio Cinema, former India cricketer Abhinav Mukund had said that he was told by an IPL scout that Rizvi is a right-handed Suresh Raina. "One of the IPL scouts actually told me that he was the right-handed Suresh Raina. The areas that he hits in against spin are similar and many teams might go after him," Mukund had added.
