When Rasikh Salam Dar speared a yorker through Avesh Khan’s stumps at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, it didn’t just end the Lucknow Super Giants’ innings. It capped a four-wicket spell—and, in a way, brought his journey back into focus. From Ashmuji in Kulgam to an IPL night under lights, nothing about his rise has been straightforward. If anything, it has been about survival. He grew up in a schoolteacher’s home in south Kashmir, where cricket was never an easy pursuit. There were days when even bus fare was uncertain, let alone equipment. His father, Abdul Salam, had once told The Indian Express, “Rasikh has seen troubled times but what could I have done. I never gave them any reason and my children too have never asked me much.” He added, “Many people have helped. He was rejected during selection trials earlier but I had the belief that one day he will definitely play.” ALSO READ | Kulgam to Mumbai: Irfan Pathan’s prodigy Rasikh Salam takes road less travelled That is the spine of his story. Not certainty. Just persistence. He was not a young talent carried by an easy system or a ready-made pathway. He had to keep turning up, keep believing that one good day would still come after many that didn’t. At one point, that belief frayed enough for him to consider stepping away. It took family insistence to send him back one more time. That one more time changed everything. ***Story continues below this ad At a Jammu and Kashmir Under-19 selection trial, Irfan Pathan — then involved in talent identification in the region — told this newspaper, “More than hundred boys had come for trials… I saw Rasikh for the first time there. He bowled two or three balls and I asked him to stand in the side.” He added that he was “impressed and surprised why the boy hasn’t played for JKCA any junior or senior team,” describing him as someone who “swings with a decent pace.” From there, the trajectory shifted. Pathan brought him into senior camps and practice games, placing him in a setup that, for the first time, treated him like someone who belonged. Mumbai Indians were among the first to take notice. Rasikh entered the IPL ecosystem as a teenager — far from Kulgam, and further still from the life he had known. His debut in 2019 made him more than a young fast bowler. It made him a story. His father said, “apne gaon ka naam uncha kar diya” — he has made the village proud. But cricket rarely stays loyal to first impressions. The years that followed moved in fragments — spells of promise, stretches of uncertainty, long periods of waiting for things to settle. Pathan later told this newspaper that Rasikh had missed a selection trial due to lack of money, adding, “once I was told he didn’t come for selection trials because he didn’t have money.” He also recalled Rasikh telling him that if he hadn’t been picked that day, it could have been the end of his cricket.Story continues below this ad Franchises kept circling back to him, which in itself said something. The talent was never in doubt. That is why Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s investment in him at the IPL 2025 mega auction felt significant. On this night, that belief felt justified. Against Lucknow Super Giants, Rasikh bowled with control under pressure. He struck early, removing Aiden Markram. Ayush Badoni was undone by a slower ball that arrived just late enough to force the error. Mukul Choudhary was beaten by one that straightened and hit the stumps. And Avesh Khan was finished with the yorker that completed his four-wicket haul as LSG were bowled out for 146. It was not a spell that shouted. The wickets mattered, but so did the manner — patience between deliveries, refusal to drift under pressure, instinct to attack the stumps. ***Story continues below this ad Rasikh Salam Dar’s story carries more than cricket. It carries geography, economics, and the emotional weight of a family that kept faith when the game offered very little in return. Years ago, he was the boy Irfan Pathan stopped after three deliveries. Then the teenager from Kulgam trying to find space in the IPL. On Wednesday night, he looked more complete. Perhaps his father’s old words still explain it best: “Apne gaon ka naam uncha kar diya.” (He has made his village proud).
‘Apne gaon ka naam uncha kar diya’: Kashmiri Rasikh Salam Dar’s four-wicket spell for RCB
