Salman Nizar needed to look ahead to greater than 9 years for his maiden first-class century. And as soon as it got here within the last league fixture of the Ranji Trophy towards Bihar final week, he carried that momentum into the quarterfinals and scored yet one more ton – this time towards 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 enjoying first-class cricket for 10 years, however I didn’t get any 100 within the final 8-9 years, so I used to be actually working arduous for that,” he mentioned 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 advised him to play freely. “He (Khurasiya) gave me a powerful perception that we are able to do miracles. He advised me that cricket is like that, at occasions 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 (Thampi) would again me. And that definitely helped,” he mentioned.
Ever since making his debut in 2015, Nizar has been out and in of the Kerala crew, however he didn’t quit. “At occasions, it was irritating, however I contributed for the crew with the 40s and the 50s, however I couldn’t convert these into large scores. So I used to be not pleased with that, however now that the time is lastly right here, I’m pleased…”
Hailing from Thalassery, Nizar grew up admiring Akshay Chandran, and S. Sreesanth. Even when the going acquired robust, he didn’t consider quitting the sport and shifting to Dubai together with his elder brother. “I had no different ideas. It was solely about cricket since I beloved enjoying the sport and I solely discovered happiness in enjoying it. So ideas of shifting to Dubai or quitting the sport by no means crossed my thoughts,” he mentioned.
Whereas a few of his buddies went on to play within the IPL, Nizar remained unsold within the public sale this 12 months. However the event stays his greatest motivation. “Enjoying within the IPL is the most important motivation for me. I feel if they’ll play, I’m additionally able to enjoying. I simply need to keep calm, look ahead to my time,” he mentioned.
Whereas the innings towards J&Okay stays certainly one of his ‘finest’, Nizar unwinds by watching reels on Instagram, and requested if he watches movies of his namesake Salman Khan, he smiled and mentioned, “I don’t watch motion pictures. Even relating to watching Malayalam movies, I hardly ever watch them…”