From tennis balls to match-winning spells in the IPL: The Rasikh Salam Dar story

Rasikh Salam Dar has been mighty impressive for RCB this year, bowling with immense conviction. From the three games that he has played, he has registered five wickets, four of them coming against Lucknow Super Giants in what was his career-best spell in the Indian Premier League.

However, the journey for Rasikh Salam Dar didn’t start in a conventional way. It came from the alleys of tennis ball while a dream propelled Rasikh to keep on fighting. His mum’s belief in him was also a major catalyst in him going the distance alongside the insane hard work he put in. Talking on the latest episode of RCB Bold Diaries, Rasikh Salam Dar opened up on how it all started for him.

Rasikh said, “The craze for cricket in India is huge. It’s the same in Kashmir. It’s the same in our village too. I started my journey playing with the tennis ball. I have always played with the tennis ball. I didn’t even know that there were U14 and U16 levels. When I started playing cricket professionally, relatives said that we can’t take cricket as a career. Very few people have played cricket back then from J&K. I think Parvez Rasool was the only one.”

Iterating how his mum’s unwavering belief in him kept him afloat, Rasikh said, “My mother never told me not to play cricket. Since I started playing with a cricket ball, my mum said that her son would be a cricketer. The first year I went for trials, I didn’t know we had to go from J&K. My place is 70-80 kms from Srinagar.”

He eventually revealed, how it all started for him, stating, “I wasn’t selected for the first year when I went for the trials for U19. Next year when I went, Irfan Pathan was there as a mentor and a player. He was watching everyone. Then I bowled two or three balls. He asked me to stop and said that he would help me. I felt that he liked me and that’s why he offered to help. That was my start.”