Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Sameer Rizvi created a unique record, becoming the third Indian to hit a six on the first ball of his debut innings. He achieved this feat during the Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between CSK and Gujarat Titans (GT) at MA Chidambaram Stadium, popularly known as 'Chepauk' here on Tuesday.
Rizvi, who made his debut in the campaign lung opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), played his maiden IPL innings against GT and smashed the first ball six to crafty leg-spinner Rashid Khan through slog sweep over square leg fence. Former RCB bowler Aniket Choudhary and former Mumbai Indians opener Siddesh Lad were the two Indian players to hit a six on their maiden ball in their debut innings.
The CSK batter came out to bat in the 19th over and took Rashid Khan to the cleaners with a towering six on the very first ball he faced in his IPL career. He then came down the ground on the final ball of the over and hammered it over long-off for another maximum. He amassed 14 runs off six balls and got caught at long-on in the final over of the innings.
Apart from the Indians, a total of six overseas players have done this before including Rob Quiney, Kevon Cooper, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Javon Searles, and Mahesh Theekshana.
The right-hand batter, who represents Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit, was bought by CSK for ₹8.40 crores in the mini IPL auction held in Dubai in 2023. He has scored 295 runs in T20 cricket, with an unbeaten 75 as his highest score. He made his first-class debut against Madhya Pradesh in Indore in January 2020, while he made his T20 debut against Manipur in Jaipur in October 2022.
After the match, the 20-year-old revealed the advice he received from former skipper MS Dhoni ahead of his first appearance at the major level. Recalling Dhoni's advice, Rizvi said that India's World Cup-winning skipper asked him to play his natural game. "MSD has told me to play the way I do, telling me that the game is the same, the skill is the same, but the mindset is different. He has asked me not to feel pressure and to play as per the situation. He told me to take care of my nerves in the first match in front of a huge crowd," said Rizvi in a video posted by the IPL's official X handle.
On his jersey number, Rizvi said that he originally wore number seven but had to settle for number one as his favourite number was already in use by none other than Dhoni. "My jersey number is seven. I could not get it. So I got jersey number one," he added.
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