The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction is scheduled for December 19, and several young players from the Indian domestic circuit may garner a lot of interest from the 10 franchises. One promising player in contention is uncapped Sameer Rizvi from Uttar Pradesh. The 20-year-old made a strong impression in domestic cricket in 2023, leading to expectations that he could attract substantial bids in the IPL 2024 auction.
During the IPL mock auction on Jio Cinema, former Indian cricketer Abhinav Mukund shared that an IPL scout described Rizvi as a right-handed version of Suresh Raina. Aakash Chopra and Raina also hold the belief that Rizvi has the potential to be a lucrative prospect in the upcoming IPL auction.
"One of the IPL scouts actually told me that he was the right-handed Suresh Raina. The areas that he hits against spin are similar and many teams might go after him”, Mukund said on Jio Cinema.
Former fast bowler RP Singh expressed that Rizvi could be a perfect fit for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2024 as they do not have a set finisher. While LSG boast strength in the top order, there seems to be a need for additional support in the lower order. Chopra agreed with Singh's assessment and said that Rizvi's ability to hit sixes effortlessly.
"Lucknow Super Giants might need someone as a finisher. They do have a lot of top-order batters and the finishers might need to be an Indian. They have Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran as their No. 4 and No. 5. They have Deepak Hooda who is not your ideal No. 6 and Ayush Badoni is decent. I was watching the UP T20 League and he's done well there and can hit big sixes," Chopra explained.
Rizvi achieved the fastest century in the first edition of the UP T20 League. The young batter maintains an impressive average of 49.16 in domestic T20s with a strike rate of 134.70.
"Sameer Rizvi has a different intent in his batting. He would get a lot of confidence if he gets to play for an UP team. He is a Badoni-type player but plays with a straighter bat," Raina added about the player.
Hailing from Meerut, Rizvi has also represented India in age-group cricket.
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