Pacer Rasikh Salam only Kashmiri to feature in IPL 2022
Family, relatives hopeful that Rasikh will prove his mettle
Srinagar: Young pacer Rasikh Salam who hails from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district has been picked up by Kolkata Night Riders at a base price of Rs 20 lakh.
The 22-year old pacer is set to feature in 15th edition of the popular T-20 Indian Premier league (IPL) this year which is scheduled to held in April this year.
Hailing from Bhan Ashmuji area of the Kulgam distric,t Rasikh Salam Dar son of Abdul Salam Dar has been bought at Rs 20 lakh by the Kolkata night riders in their 25 member squad for IPL 2022.
Belonging to a middle class family, Rasikh is youngest among four siblings and was earlier bought by Mumbai Indians at Rs 20 lakh in 2019.
His father is a government teacher, mother a housewife while as his brother and two sisters are still pursuing their studies.
As per his family members, in 2019 after the Vijay Hazare trophy, Rasikh was called for the trails in the Mumbai Indians camp and was picked up by them after watching his ability to swing the ball both ways.
He made his debut against Rajasthan in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he showed his skills, said his brother Aadil.
He said that he along with his family and relatives are sure that he will perform well if he gets chance to play and bowl in the coming edition of the IPL.
“We are very happy with his selection and hope that he gets chance to prove his mettle on field,” they said while adding that he has been working to realise his dream of playing professional cricket from primary school days as cricket is his only passion.
“We are watching on phone and TV to know whether Rasikh will be picked up and when he was finally given a chance our joy knew no bounds,” said one of his relatives.
“We know he is a very good player and he will definitely prove his mettle if given a chance,” he said.
Rasikh said that he is very happy that he will once again get a chance to prove his mettle during the IPL 2022 and he is hopeful that he will perform well and make J&K proud.
In June 2029, Rasikh Salam was banned by the BCCI for two years following a discrepancy – submission of faulty birth certificate to BCCI.
Rasikh recently played for J&K Under-25 side and performed well. However, he was still left out of J&K Ranji Trophy side.
During his two year ban, Rasikh trained in Mumbai Indians academy in Mumbai.
His brother said that ups and downs are part of life and person who never gives up reaches to the goal and anyone who is interested in any field must work hard and success will come knocking at his doors.
Notably, ten players including Left-arm young pacer from Anantnag Mujtaba Yousuf placed at serial 161, followed by Rasikh Salam serial 242, Parvez Rasool serial 354, Qamran Iqbal serial 367, Fazil Rashid, serial 391, Henan Malik, serial 436, Abid Mushtaq, serial 445, Nasir Lone, serial 446, Auqib Nabi, serial 492 and Vivrant Sharma, serial 545 were shortlisted for auction from J&K for IPL 2020 with base price of Rs 20 Lakh each excluding Parvaiz Rasool whose base price was Rs 50 lakh.
Already two J&K cricketers Abdul Samad and Umran Malik were retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs four crore each in the squad.
So far four players from J&K have played in IPL which includes Umran Malik, Abdul Samad, Parvaiz Rasool and Rasikh Salam.
Jahangeer Ganaie
