Who is Salman Nizar? 5 interesting facts about Kerala player whose rebound catch went viral during Ranji Trophy 2024-25 semifinal vs Gujarat

Salman Nizar has become the talk of the town after the rebound catch from Kerala vs Gujarat Ranji Trophy 2024-25 semifinal went viral on social media platforms. Nizar was in the short leg position when a big shot from Arzan Nagwaswalla hit his helmet and went straight to Sachin Baby in the slips.

Nagwaswalla and Priyajitsing Jadeja were Gujarat's last pair of batters, and had they scored three more runs, Gujarat would have gained the crucial first-innings lead that would help them qualify for the final. However, Nagwaswalla ended up losing his wicket to Aditya Sarwate in an unlucky manner.

Kerala got a two-run lead, thanks to Salman Nizar's helmet, and they qualified for the Ranji Trophy final for the first time in the mega event's history. In this listicle now, we will look at five important things to know about Nizar.

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#1 Salman Nizar hails from Thalassery

Kerala have produced some extraordinary cricketers for India. The craze of cricket in the southern state of India is on another level, which is why Salman Nizar, hailing from Thalassery of Cannanore ended up becoming a cricketer.

Nizar was born on June 30, 1997, in Thalassery. At the time of writing, the Kerala player is 27 years and 237 days old.

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#2 Salman Nizar has been playing cricket for more than a decade

Nizar developed a passion for cricket at a young age. His passion and skills helped him secure a place in Kerala's U-14 team. Soon after, he even broke into the state's U-16 team.

The Kerala player made his first-class debut at the senior level on February 6, 2015, against Assam in Kannur. He received his maiden List-A cap in 2017, while his debut T20 game was in 2018.

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#3 Salman Nizar scored his maiden century just before Ranji Trophy semifinals

Nizar is a specialist left-handed batter, who can also bowl right-arm off-spin if needed. Before the rebound catch contribution in the semifinal against Gujarat, Nizar had scored a half-century in the same game.

Before that, he scored his maiden century in the group stage match against Bihar, followed by another ton in the quarterfinal against Jammu and Kashmir. Hence, the 27-year-old was in the best phase of his career.

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#4 Mohammed Siraj dismissed Nizar on his T20 debut

As mentioned ahead, Nizar started his T20 career in 2018. He was picked in Kerala's playing XI for their Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Hyderabad on January 8.

The Hyderabad featured some big names like Ambati Rayudu, Pragyan Ojha, and Mohammed Siraj. Nizar came out to bat at number six in a chase of 169 and lost his stumps to Siraj when he was on six runs.

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#5 Nizar ignored Dubai dream for cricket

Nizar scored his maiden first-class ton just a few days ago, but he has been playing cricket for years. In a chat with Sportstar, the Kerala player disclosed that even though he was not performing well, he never thought about quitting the sport and joining his elder brother in Dubai.

"I had no other thoughts. It was only about cricket since I loved playing the game and I only found happiness in playing it. So thoughts of moving to Dubai or quitting the game never crossed my mind," Nizar said.

Years of hard work seem to be paying off for Nizar. It will be interesting to see if he can help Kerala win the Ranji Trophy.