Rasikh Salam Dar reaped the price of his hard work on Sunday during the Indian Premier League 2025 mega auction as he became the highest paid uncapped player on Day 1 of the auction proceedings. (Live Updates | More Cricket News)
Salam was signed for INR 6 crore by Royal Challengers Bengaluru after an intense bidding war with Sunrisers Hyderabad. The bidding stopped at INR 2 crore in favour of RCB but then Delhi Capitals, the franchise for which the young pacer impressed last year, decided to use their Right To Match card. However, RCB straightaway raised the bid to INR 6 crore and DC then pulled back.
Touted to be a prodigy once, Salam has had his fair share of struggles before finally establishing himself as a genuine wicket-taker last season for DC. Keep reading to know who is Rasikh Salam Dar.
Who Is Rasikh Salam Dar?
When Irfan Pathan joined the Jammu and Kashmir domestic team as a mentor in 2018, he was impressed by the amount of talent in the state. One of the young talents he identified was Rasikh Salam Dar. Even though Salam did not have a lot of pace, his accuracy and the ability to make the ball move impressed Irfan.
Soon, he was signed by Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2019 IPL and made his debut as a 17-year-old. He thus became only the third player from Jammu and Kashmir to feature in the Indian Premier League.
His career was going smooth when disaster struck. In June 2019, Salam was banned for age fudging. BCCI barred him from playing for two years for discrepancies in his birth certificate.
Most would have disappeared by this huge a setback. Salam had other ideas though. After being out of the cricketing system for two years, his hardwork brought him back into the reckoning again.
He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2022 but played just two games. Delhi Capitals signed Salam ahead of last season and he finally showed his skills at the IPL level.
Salam turned himself into a defensive bowler and did well at the death for the Capitals. He picked up nine wickets in eight outings last season and did well to restrict batters in what was an unusually high-scoring year. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer also got a chance in the Emerging Asia Cup last month. There too, Salam had a good time as he ended up with nine wickets in four matches, the second highest in the tournament.
Salam will now have another big challenge ahead of him. Getting into RCB gives one opportunity to rub shoulders with someone as great as Virat Kohli, but for bowlers it is always a nightmare. He will have contain batters at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is considered a graveyard of bowlers.
Another good season and he might be in the reckoning for the national side.
