Captain Sanju Samson may have fallen for just a run-a-ball four in Kerala's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group E clash against Mumbai but his team thrashed the 2022/23 champions by 43 runs thanks largely to a sensational knock from 26-year-old left-hander Salman Nizar. Nizar was unbeaten on 99 off 49 balls in an innings that included eight sixes and five fours as he led Kerala to a score of 234/5 batting first in Hyderabad. Mumbai managed to get to a respectable score of 191/9 due to Ajinkya Rahane's 68 off 35 balls.

Nizar was Born on June 30, 1997 in Thalassery, a city situated in the northern Kerala district of Kannur. His senior debut came in a 2015 Ranji Trophy match for Kerala against Assam at home. He scored 12 runs off 33 balls in Kerala's lone innings in the match. Nizar made his List A debut with a bang though. It came in the a 2017 Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Tripura and Nizar scored an unbeaten 82 in 104 balls. Kerala, however, went on to lose the match by two wickets. Nizar's T20 debut came in a match against Hyderabad in the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Nizar has played 25 T20Is and scored 413 runs, with Thursday's 99 not out being his career-best. He holds a career strike rate of 147.50 and averages 51.62 with two half-centuries. Nizar has also played 27 first class matches and scored 1051 runs with a career-best of 95 not out. He has a first class average of 33.90 and has scored six half-centuries. In the 20 List A matches he has played, Nizar has scored 389 runs at an average of 25.93 with two half-centuries.

Nizar and Kunnummal lead Kerala to victory

On Thursday against Mumbai, Nizar walked in when Sachin Baby had to leave the field retired hurt. Kerala were in a tricky position, having lost two wickets and Baby for just 49 runs. Nizar went on to put up a ballistic 131-run stand with opener Rohan Kunnummal, who scored 87 off 48 balls. Mumbai's most experienced international bowler Shardul Thakur bore the brunt of the onslaugh, conceding 69 runs in four overs after dismissing Samson early in the match.

Later, it was the out of favour Rahane who top-scored for Mumbai. Prithvi Shaw's struggles continued as he fell for 23 off 13 balls while captain Shreyas Iyer, who had held the record for most expensive buy of all time at the recently held 2025 IPL auction before being eclipsed by Rishabh Pant just minutes later, scored 32 in 18 balls. Rahane had been released by CSK last season and was signed by KKR at the 2025 auction at his base price of INR 2 crore.

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