Ninth over into Delhi Capitals' chase, Sameer Rizvi brought out an audacious flick. Corbin Bosch went full; Rizvi waited, and then whipped it nonchalantly over square leg, right at the feet of the Mumbai Indians dugout. It was the kind of wristy shot that would make Suryakumar Yadav proud. Maybe it did, judging by the MI stand-in skipper's approving nod.

Nothing in the unremarkable 17-ball 11 he had scored until then gave an inkling of what Rizvi was about to produce.

Chosen as the Impact Sub for a second successive game - ahead of the more destructive Ashutosh Sharma or the more experienced Karun Nair - Rizvi bailed Delhi out of early trouble for the second successive match in IPL 2026. In Lucknow, it was swing-friendly conditions that had given LSG's new-ball attack an edge. Delhi were down to 21/2 when Rizvi walked in and watched it become 26/4 in the space of next six deliveries before taking charge of the modest 142-run chase. In the afternoon fixture on Delhi's slow and sticky surface, MI's 162 looked almost par and DC were in a soup again at 7/2 in the second over. In walked the 22-year-old, again at No. 4, not least because of the 70* he had just hit in Lucknow.

Rizvi's IPL journey started at Chennai Super Kings, who shelled out a massive INR 8.4 crore for the uncapped UP batter in 2024. What followed was a forgettable season. Eight matches, five batting chances and just 51 runs at 12.75. Ahead of the mega-auction later that year, Rizvi was back in the pool. CSK wanted him back, but DC outbid them this time. Not for as much moolah, but he secured a new IPL home with an INR 95 lakh deal with Delhi. He played only five games and batted only four times but his last appearance - a 25-ball 58 not out in a successful 200+ chase against finalists PBKS - was enough for Delhi to retain him.

In the interim, Rizvi made his mark as a No. 4 batter in the UP T20 League 2025 where he led Kanpur Superstars. True to his reputation as a spin-basher, Rizvi amassed 491 runs in 10 innings at an average of 61.38 to finish as the competition's second-highest run-getter despite his team not making the finals. His tournament strike-rate of 161.51 was bettered only by Rinku Singh among batters who made at least 250 runs. No one hit more sixes in the competition than Rizvi's 36.

At the DC camp, he arrived 'hungry'. Hungry for the chance, hungry to score runs, hungry to prove his mettle. The Hemang Badani-led management then doubled down on the faith shown in him by promising the No. 4 slot. "The coaching staff had said pre-season that 'we are going to back you at No. 4 no matter what, you play your natural, positive game'," Rizvi had revealed after his Player of the Match performance in Delhi's season opener in Lucknow.

Rizvi himself wanted "to forget" the knock that was in the past now, and "start from scratch in the next game". And he did so with aplomb. What he did not forget was the year-long effort he had put into improving his game against fast bowling.

"I have worked very hard on myself because there have been many challenges since last year. I worked on all my weaknesses. I used to always struggle a bit against fast bowlers, so I worked on that extensively throughout the year. That hard work is paying off now," the batter said after collecting a second successive POTM award for DC this season.

On Saturday, Rizvi's off-season progress was amply on display as he scored 63 of his 90 runs against pace at a strike-rate of nearly 191 which included five sixes and as many boundaries. He not only showcased his versatility in maneuvering the chase under two different challenging situations, but also his game acumen by taking his time settling in and switching gears just when the game demanded it of him. Pathum Nissanka, the aggressor until now, fell against the run of play. DC's score read exactly the same as Mumbai's at the halfway stage - 73/3 - and the game hung in the balance.

Rizvi's strike-rate had been in the red until now. But what seemed like a slow, maybe struggling, start was only the setup, for he went on to eventually make a match-winning 90 off 51. Once settled, Rizvi took down MI's pace attack.

Bosch's 11th over turned the game on its head - and now, Rizvi was in complete control. It began quietly with a dot, but that was perhaps the last moment of calm for MI. He walked across on the second delivery - a slower one - and flayed Bosch over mid-off. When the South African dug the following one short, Rizvi used the bowler's bounce to expertly ramp it over the keeper. He was beaten on the fourth ball but the response was emphatic. A short and wide ball that he slashed authoritatively over deep point - the longer boundary no less - before he capped the over by muscling a slot ball straight down the ground. Twenty runs came off the over and, with it, the momentum of the chase.

Against the legspin of Mayank Markande, Rizvi showcased excellent footwork, dancing down the track for consecutive balls and bludgeoning them downtown. The first of the two brought up his half-century - that's 26 runs in only eight balls since the halfway point of the chase.

Mumbai pivoted to their best - Jasprit Bumrah - who did apply the brakes with a one-run 13th over. On the other side, Rizvi took down ex-teammate Deepak Chahar - the slower one was cut to the fence, the attempted yorker-turned-full-toss whipped over the legside ropes. And then more of the same against the experienced Shardul Thakur to leave little to anyone's imagination. Such was Rizvi's dominance that David Miller, who walked in after Nissanka's departure, contributed only a single to the 50-run stand while getting the best seat in the house to watch the carnage unfold from 22 yards.

Or maybe, the second best.

"Thoda struggle karega par ek baar set ho jaye toh fir kisi ko nahin chodta haiwoh [he may initially struggle but once he gets his eye in, he wouldn't spare anyone!]," said teammate Mukesh Kumar, who had been at the receiving end enough times in nets, camps and simulations to now enjoy the show from the comforts of the dressing room balcony.

"When he came for the pre-season camps, you could see he was hungry to score runs come what may. He's doing that now in pressure situations. We're very pleased to see his mindset," Mukesh added.

More than the runs or the strike-rate, it was the control and the clarity with which Rizvi paced the chase that have stood out across the two knocks from the youngster. In conditions that have demanded adaptability, Rizvi showcased that he's quickly evolving into a complete T20 batter. For Delhi Capitals, that's not just faith repaid. After a season of batting inconsistencies, this could be campaign-defining.