Lucknow, April 2 Young Delhi Capitals batter Sameer Rizvi seized the opportunity to bat at number four and said his only focus now is to maintain consistency going forward in the IPL.
Rizvi showed his talent, coming in as an "Impact Player" to help Delhi Capitals defeat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets after a shaky start on Wednesday.
Chasing 142, DC were reduced to 26 for 4 within the first five overs, but Rizvi (70 not out off 47 balls), replacing T Natarajan, partnered with seasoned batsman Tristan Stubbs (39 not out off 32 balls) for an unbroken 119-run stand for the fifth wicket, chasing down the target in just 17.1 overs.
Rizvi showed exemplary maturity during his innings, hitting five fours and four sixes on a challenging pitch.
"The coaches told me before that I would play at number four, and they would support me. Just play your natural, positive game," said the 22-year-old Uttar Pradesh cricketer.
"Whenever I play for UP or in the UPT20 league, I bat at number four, and if I get to bat in the same position in the IPL, it gives me a lot of confidence. It's a big opportunity for me, and they (coaches) are also giving me the freedom to play my natural game. So I just focus on grabbing these opportunities."
"I haven't played many innings in the IPL, but I will always try to be consistent. I will try to forget this innings and focus on the next match."
This was Rizvi's second successive fifty-plus score in the IPL, having ended the previous season with a half-century.
Talking about the run chase and his partnership with Stubbs, Rizvi said they decided to bat according to the situation of the game.
"The initial intent was to play positive cricket, but once we lost four wickets, we decided to slow down a bit and take our time, read the wicket, because the chase wasn't that big."
"I have played 2-3 innings with Stubbs before. He keeps it very simple, and plays according to the situation."
Rizvi said having played a lot of cricket at his home ground helped him a lot during his unbeaten innings.
"Any player playing in their hometown will have an idea about the boundaries, conditions, and atmosphere, and that helps a lot."
The right-handed batsman said the wicket was not easy to bat against fast bowlers.
"The ball was swinging a lot, so it was difficult to score against fast bowlers. The plan was to attack the spinners and score big against them. If the ball is there, we will hit."
"The wicket was a bit tricky, the ball was swinging and seaming, so it was a bit tough for batsmen to play against fast bowlers. So, it was necessary to take some time in the middle."
