Sameer Rizvi is an Indian cricketer who currently plays for Uttar Pradesh and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. He is also known as right-handed Suresh Raina, a nickname he earned on social media owing to his playing style mimicking Raina’s. He has also represented India at the Under-19 level in age-group cricket.
Sameer mastered the technique of hitting sixes with the help of his Uttar Pradesh teammate, Rinku Singh, who is also popular as a hard-hitting finisher.
He once talked about the former Uttar Pradesh and Indian cricketer, Suresh Raina, and said that Suresh once gave his goggles to Sameer as he was impressed with Sameer’s dedication while fielding in a match.
Sameer’s batting position varies from number 4 to 7 in the middle order.
Rizvi was expected to be auctioned off for a high price due to such hard-hitting performances. In the 2024 IPL auction, he was acquired by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 8.40 crores against his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
In the inaugural season of the UP T20 League in 2023, he emerged as the highest run scorer for Kanpur Superstars. In 10 matches, he scored 455 runs at an average of 50.56 and a strike rate of 188.8. He earned a reputation as a pinch hitter by hitting the maximum number of sixes (35) in the tournament. He made the highest individual score (122 runs) and fastest century of the tournament.
In the 2019-20 domestic season, he made his debut for Uttar Pradesh and went on to play in several tournaments.
In 2014, he started playing for Uttar Pradesh Under-14 and went on to play for Under-16 and Under-19 teams. He also played in local and corporate cricket tournaments. In the 2021 Guts N Glory Corporate League, he scored 126 runs in 48 deliveries.
Although his father did not support Sameer initially, he later supported Sameer’s decision to play cricket. Before Sameer made his Ranji debut, his father suffered a brain hemorrhage.
Sameer Rizvi is an Indian cricketer. He represented Uttar Pradesh in several domestic tournaments and Kanpur Superstars in the UP T20 League. In 2023, he went viral after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) acquired him in the IPL auction for the 2024 edition.
Sameer has been playing domestic cricket for the Uttar Pradesh team since the year 2020.
