IPL 2026: Slow Pitch, Fast Hands – Sameer Rizvi Makes A Tricky Chase Look Easy Once Again

IPL 2026: Slow pitch, fast hands – Sameer Rizvi makes a tricky chase look easy once again (Image Source: IANS)

Indian Premier League: Sameer Rizvi took ten deliveries to score his first boundary on Saturday, as Delhi Capitals made a pursuit of 163 against Mumbai Indians. By the time he was done, impact player Rizvi had made the result look inevitable in DC’s favour for the second straight time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.

In front of a near-packed house at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Rizvi struck a swashbuckling 90 off 51 balls to power DC to a six-wicket victory over MI with 11 balls to spare. He reached his fifty in just 31 balls and hit seven sixes and as many boundaries on a pitch that had frustrated the game's biggest names in the afternoon and evening.

“In practice, he’s always very positive. So, in the beginning, he would struggle a little bit. He used to say that if he got going early, he could play a long innings, and he’s doing exactly that. It’s great for the team and helps us win matches.

“Once he settles in, he doesn’t hold back. He plays with positive intent, and we’re really happy to see that mindset. From the time he joined the camp, you could see his hunger to score runs and the mindset to do that, irrespective of what happened around him, and he is now doing that,” said Delhi Capitals pacer Mukesh Kumar in the post-match press conference.

The match had set itself up for a tantalising finish. At the ten-over mark, DC stood at 73/3 - the precise score MI had reached at the same stage of their innings. The similarities were hard to ignore - two early wickets had fallen in each chase. A fifty partnership for the third wicket and a set opener departing in the tenth over in each innings.

The game appeared finely balanced, but then Rizvi faced Corbin Bosch in the 11th over. He had been watchful to that point, strokeplay subdued, strike rate hovering below 100 as his more senior partner Pathum Nissanka did the early running. When Nissanka fell to Mitchell Santner, the game's pivot fell on young Rizvi’s shoulders, and he seized it with both hands.

A wide delivery was dispatched over mid-off for four. The next ball, having committed to a pull shot before recognising it was not on, Rizvi adjusted in a flash and ramped it past the wicketkeeper to the third-man boundary. Then came two blows that broke Mumbai's back: a slashing six over deep point, another over long-on, as 20 runs came from the over.

The target, from that moment, became a mere formality. The statistics from Rizvi's innings illuminate both the innings and the surface on which they were played. Against pacers, he made 63 runs off 33 balls at a strike rate of 190.9. Against spinners, 27 runs off 18 deliveries at a strike rate of 150.

Seventy of his 90 runs came via boundaries. His seven sixes were three more than Mumbai's entire batting lineup managed across their innings on the same strip. He preferred the off side for his scoring - 52 runs there at a strike rate of 200 – while 32 runs came through leg-side and the remaining six runs came downtown.

If the ramp against Bosch left DC fans jaw-dropped, then his back-to-back sixes off Mayank Markande were a sight for sore eyes. The first maximum was pure hand speed; the second one was textbook style - quick feet, clean swing, the ball clearing long-on without drama.

If Rizvi hadn’t holed out to long-off for 90, he would have been the third Impact Player in IPL history to score a century. While DC basked in the joy of victory at home, it was a chastening evening for MI from the batting order to the bowling unit. Rizvi sports the number seven jersey for DC, a number synonymous with MS Dhoni, and MI pacer Deepak Chahar couldn’t ignore it.

“I think he has the potential because when CSK bought him first in the auction, they bought him for 8 crores. So obviously, the potential was always there. Now, with the experience, he has become better. What I have seen in IPL is that confidence is the key to success because everybody who is selected in the IPL has the skill, right?

“So now, I think he has become confident. You can see, back-to-back, he scored runs. He's got better and better. So it's learning for everybody that skill doesn't matter. Confidence matters, and so whoever gets a chance, like a lot of youngsters, are playing this tournament. I think they should learn from him to get confident and keep winning matches,” he said.

“I think he has the potential because when CSK bought him first in the auction, they bought him for 8 crores. So obviously, the potential was always there. Now, with the experience, he has become better. What I have seen in IPL is that confidence is the key to success because everybody who is selected in the IPL has the skill, right?

But now his last three innings read as: 58 not out, 70 not out, and 90. All unbeaten except the last, each bigger than the one before. He had announced himself to the IPL two seasons ago with a six off his first ball against Rashid Khan. But Saturday's innings against MI suggested the proper introduction of Rizvi’s high-quality batting skills is only now being made, and the long-term picture looks promising for both him and DC.

Article Source: IANS