Rejected by Kolkata Knight Riders, Sakib Hussain has proved that he has it in him to succeed in the IPL.
Not many gave Sunrisers Hyderabad a chance when rookie pacers Praful Hinge and Sakib were named in the starting line-up against Rajasthan Royals.
Both, however, took all by surprise by sharing eight wickets and triggering a Royals collapse which was never imagined. While Praful started the slide in his opening over, Sakib, 21, from Bihar’s Gopalganj, showed that he too can unsettle batters with his variations.
Sakib’s last three wickets came off slower balls. It highlights Bihar’s growing talent pool given Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s exploits since last season. Sakib had caught the talent spotters’ eyes during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season leading to Sunrisers picking him at his base price of ₹30 lakh.
Aaron, the Sunrisers’ pace bowling coach, lauded Sakib’s efforts after the match.
“My only plan for them was to just enjoy the game because you debut only once in any format of cricket. Considering where they’ve come from, what they’ve done today is massive, and you’ve just got to enjoy it,” Varun told reporters after the match.
In the bylanes of Gopalganj, Sakib had made a name for himself with his pace in tennis-ball cricket and was nicknamed “Rabada”. He then moved to a coaching centre in Patna where he came under the tutelage of specialist coaches and remodelled his action.
Coming from a humble background and his father a daily wage labourer, he could add to the family’s income by virtue of his tennis-ball deeds. He came to the state selectors’ notice once he started playing in the Bihar Cricket League and was picked for the Cooch Behar Trophy.
He was keen on making the opportunity count and quickly found his way to the NCA high performance camp and the MRF Pace Foundation. At 19, he got a chance to bowl at the CSK nets but it was KKR’s talent spotters who noticed him and he was picked at the IPL 2024 auction.
However, he never got a chance with the Knights and was released by them last year. Sakib was determined to prove that he had it in him to achieve success and proved his worth on Monday.