Kerala batter Salman Nizar was among the top performers for the team reaching their first Ranji Trophy final in the 2024-25 season with a haul of 628 runs which included an unbeaten 112 and 42 not out in the quarterfinal against Jammu and Kashmir.
While the left-hander has the patience and technical skills to play red-ball cricket, Nizar has been excellent in the T20s as well. Nizar averaged 56 and was striking at 164 in his haul of 169 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024.
Salman Nizar smashes 11 sixes in 13 balls in KCL 2025 ahead of IPL 2026 auction
Nizar had hit 10 sixes from six matches in that tournament then. But in Saturday’s Kerala Cricket League match between Calicut Globstars and Adani Trivandrum Royals, Nizar clobbered 12 sixes off which 11 came in the space of 12 legitimate balls.
A total of 14 deliveries were bowled by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Basil Thampi and Abijit Praveen as he took Calicut from 115/6 at the beginning of the 19th over to 186/6 at the end of the 20th over.
Nizar, who was batting on 17 off 13 balls when the sixth wicket fell, somehow started to find the meaty part of the bat against his Kerala teammate Thampi as he sent five massive sixes in all directions of the ground at Thiruvananthapuram.
He took a single off the final ball which kept him on strike for the final over, which turned out to be a disaster for Abijit who was smacked over the long-on by Nizar and then overstepped off the next ball.
Nizar then unleashed full fury, hitting the bowler over deep square-leg four times and sending one each over long-on and deep extra-cover much to the exasperation of the home team captain Krishna Prasad.
These fourteen deliveries in total yielded 71 runs as Nizar raced away to 86 not out off just 26 balls.
CSK connection during IPL 2025
During Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Nizar had also attended trials for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) along with the likes of Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel and could garner interest from the franchise as they aim to flip the script in 2026.
Nizar’s exploits could also land him a place at Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants as he can play an anchor innings in the middle-order.