5 batters to have hit a six off the first ball of their IPL career before Sameer Rizvi
Sameer Rizvi announced his arrival in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last night with a six-ball 14 against the Gujarat Titans (GT). Chennai Super Kings raised many eyebrows when they spent ₹8.4 crore to acquire Rizvi at the auction last year.
Quite a few fans have seen the 20-year-old's explosive batting performances at the domestic level, but IPL has a different level. Rizvi did not get an opportunity to bat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), but CSK sent him ahead of Ravindra Jadeja on Tuesday (March 26), and the youngster showed why the franchise splurged such an enormous sum for his services.
Sameer Rizvi started his IPL career with a six off Rashid Khan's bowling. He hit another maximum before losing his wicket to Mohit Sharma. CSK fans were impressed with Rizvi's batting. However, it is pertinent to note that he is not the first batter to start his IPL career with a six.
In this listicle, we will look at the five other batters who began their IPL careers with a first-ball six like Sameer Rizvi.
#1 Siddhesh Lad hit a 1st ball 6 on debut like Sameer Rizvi
Siddhesh Lad has played only one match in his IPL career. He has been a part of Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in the league. After waiting five years for his maiden IPL cap, Lad made his debut for MI against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) on April 10, 2019.
He opened the batting for MI and hit a six on the first ball he faced. It was the third ball of MI's innings, with Ankit Rajpoot being the bowler. Rajpoot bowled a short ball down the leg, which the debutant smacked over the fine leg boundary.
#2 Kevon Cooper
Caribbean all-rounder Kevon Cooper made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals against Kings XI Punjab on April 6, 2012. He came out to bat in the last over when RR lost their fourth wicket.
Cooper smacked the first ball of his career over the third-man region for a six. The bowler was James Faulkner. Cooper finished with 11 runs off three balls on his debut.
#3 Andre Russell
Another West Indies all-rounder to feature on this list is Andre Russell. The current Kolkata Knight Riders star began his IPL journey at the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2012. Like Sameer Rizvi, Russell did not bat on his IPL debut.
In the second game of his career, Russell came out to bat at seven and whacked the first ball he faced from Zaheer Khan over his head into the stands. Russell scored 31 off 15 in that game against RCB, but his team still lost the match.
#4 Carlos Brathwaite
Carlos Brathwaite is the third all-rounder from West Indies to appear on this list. He also made his debut for the Delhi Daredevils. The date was April 10, 2016, as Delhi traveled to Eden Gardens for a match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Debutant Brathwaite came out to bat at number seven in the 11th over itself. He slogged a flighted delivery from Piyush Chawla way past the boundary line to get off the mark. The DD all-rounder lost his wicket to Chawla LBW later in the same over.
#5 Aniket Choudhary
A rather unexpected name to feature on the list is Aniket Choudhary. He is a left-arm fast bowler, who made his debut for RCB against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening game of IPL 2017.
Choudhary batted at number 11 and hit a six on a short ball bowled by Ben Cutting. On the next ball, Yuzvendra Chahal got run out as RCB's innings ended at 172 in a chase of 208.