Nizar celebrates his century .
| Picture Credit score: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Salman Nizar needed to look forward to greater than 9 years for his maiden First-Class century. And as soon as it got here within the remaining league fixture of the Ranji Trophy in opposition to Bihar final week, he carried that momentum into the quarterfinals and scored one more ton — this time in opposition to Jammu and Kashmir.
Whereas his innings introduced Kerala again into the sport, for Nizar, it was all about staying ‘optimistic’ and constructing his innings. “I’ve been taking part in First-Class cricket for 10 years, however I didn’t get any 100 within the final eight-nine years, so I used to be actually working onerous for that,” he stated on Monday.
Resuming the day at 200 for 9, it was a problem for Nizar to information the crew out of the woods, and by stitching a last-wicket partnership with Basil Thampi, Nizar ensured a one-run lead for Kerala. Earlier than strolling out to bat, he had lengthy conversations with coach Amay Khurasiya and Jalaj Saxena, who scored a fifty. Whereas Saxena suggested him to hit out on the spinners, the coach instructed him to play freely. “He (Khurasiya) gave me a powerful perception that we will do miracles. He instructed me that cricket is like that, at instances you are able to do miracles in case you imagine in your self. So, he requested me to hold in there and warranted that Basil would again me. And that definitely helped,” he stated.
Ever since making his debut in 2015, Nizar has been out and in of the Kerala crew, however he didn’t surrender. “At instances, it was irritating, however I contributed for the crew with the 40s and the 50s, however I couldn’t convert these into massive scores. So I used to be not proud of that, however now that the time is lastly right here, I’m completely satisfied,” he added.
Printed – February 10, 2025 08:55 pm IST
