Srinagar: Young Kashmir pacer, Rasikh Salam is excited to join Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
Rasikh from the Ashmuji area of Kulgam district was on Sunday picked by KKR during the IPL mega auction in Bengaluru on a base price of Rs 20 lakhs. It will be the second time that Rasikh would be playing in IPL after having previously played in a cash-rich league for Mumbai Indians.
Soon after getting included on the KKR side, Rasikh posted a video message thanking KKR management for showing faith in him.
“I am really excited and thrilled to be part of the KKR. I am thankful to the owners and management for showing faith in me. Can’t wait to join the squad,” Rasikh said.
Rasikh after his comeback recently played for the J&K Under-25 side and performed well. However, he was still left out of the J&K Ranji Trophy side which raised many eyebrows.
During his two-year ban, Rasikh trained in Mumbai Indians academy in Mumbai and was regularly seen been part of the multiple-time IPL champions set up.
Though everyone expected Mumbai to bid for the Kashmir pacer it was Kolkatta. It has been learned that Rasikh had also undergone trials with KKR before the auction.
In the IPL Auction 2022, there were 10 cricketers from J&K in the auction. However, out of those only Rasikh found a bid. While pacer Mujtaba Yousuf came up for auction twice but he went Unsold on both occasions. All other J&K players Parvez Rasool, Abid Mushtaq, Qamran Iqbal, Auqib Nabi, Nasir Lone, Henan Malik, Vivrant Sharma, and Fazil Rashid despite being in the auction list didn’t find a mention during the auction.
For the young cricketer who will now play for Kolkatta in the IPL, former India cricketer and J&K mentor Irfan Pathan have been the guiding force.
Before getting banned, it was Irfan who backed Rasikh and made him play for J&K’s senior side. After that, he went on to back him with Mumbai Indians. Even after getting banned, Irfan kept backing Rasikh and used his connections to keep him in the Mumbai Indians academy.
Meanwhile prominent cricketer of J&K who himself didn’t find a buyer in the auction, Parvez Rasool has congratulated Rasikh.
“Congratulations to Rasik, great come back dear GOD bless,” Parvez posted on his Facebook page.
Former Cricketer and now JKCA Sub-Committee member Mithun Manhas have also congratulated Rasikh.
“Many congratulations to Rasik from Jammu and Kashmir on being picked up by KKRiders in the auction,” Mithun Tweeted.
With the addition of Rasikh, there will be three players from J&K in the upcoming edition of IPL. Abdul Samad and Umran Malik were already retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad before the auction.