Zeeshan Ansari

5 big IPL stars who flopped in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025–26 quarterfinals, ft. Rinku Singh

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 19:27:26 GMT

The quarterfinals of the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy ended on Tuesday, January 13. Punjab, Karnataka, Vidarbha, and Saurashtra qualified for the semifinals. Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh were knocked out of the tournament.

Several international players were unavailable due to the ongoing India–New Zealand ODI series. Players like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant did not feature, which affected the performance of Mumbai and Delhi. Meanwhile, batters such as Prabhsimran Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Shams Mulani, and Sameer Rizvi impressed with strong performances.

In this article, we look at five big IPL players who failed to perform in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025–26 quarterfinals.

Also read -Watch: KKR all-rounder secures Punjab's place in VHT 2025-26 semi-finals

1. Venkatesh Iyer

Madhya Pradesh captain and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer had a poor outing with the bat. He was dismissed for a two-ball duck, lbw to Sanvir Singh, as Punjab defeated Madhya Pradesh by 183 runs. In the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 176 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 25.14, including one half-century. With the ball, he took seven wickets in six innings at an economy rate of 5.54. RCB bought him for INR 7 crore ahead of the IPL 2026 season.

2. Angkrish Raghuvanshi

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi failed to make an impact against Karnataka. He scored 27 runs off 50 balls at a low strike rate of 54. The 21-year-old earlier impressed with scores of 92 and 68 not out against Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. However, his other scores were 38, 11, 11, 23, and 27. KKR retained him for INR 3 crore for IPL 2026. With no Iyer in the squad, Raghuvanshi will have an important role next season.

3. Nitish Rana

Delhi Capitals (DC) batter Nitish Rana was out for a golden duck against Vidarbha in the quarterfinal. Delhi lost the match by 76 runs and failed to reach the semifinals. Rana finished the tournament with 255 runs in eight innings at an average of 42.50, including two half-centuries. He was traded to DC ahead of the IPL 2026 auction for INR 4.2 crore, with Donovan Ferreira moving to the Rajasthan Royals in exchange.

4. Rinku Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter and Uttar Pradesh captain Rinku Singh struggled in the quarterfinal against Saurashtra. He scored 13 runs off 20 balls and went wicketless in two overs, giving away 15 runs. Uttar Pradesh lost the match by 17 runs.

Overall, Rinku scored 421 runs in eight matches at an average of 105.25, with one century and three half-centuries. He also took two wickets in the tournament. He will next play T20Is against New Zealand before the IPL 2026 season.

5. Zeeshan Ansari

Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari also had a disappointing quarterfinal. He did not take a wicket and conceded 46 runs in nine overs. Despite this, he is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 21 wickets in eight innings. SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) retained him for his base price of INR 40 lakh ahead of IPL 2026. Last season, he took six wickets in 10 IPL matches at an economy rate of 9.84. After his strong Vijay Hazare Trophy performance, he will aim to continue the form in the IPL.

UP T20 League 2025 Prize Money List: Winners, Runners-Up & Awards

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 19:41:07 GMT

The UP T20 League 2025 final will be held on Saturday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, where Kashi Rudras will take on the defending champions, Meerut Mavericks, in an exciting match.

Squads for UP T20 League 2025 Final

Kashi Rudras:
Abhishek Goswami, Karan Sharma (c), Uvais Ahmad (wk), Shubham Chaubey, Bhavy Goyal, Saksham Rai, Yashovardhan Singh, Shivam Mavi, Shiva Singh, Kartik Yadav, Atal Bihari Rai, Sunil Kumar, Deepak Rana, Ashish Kumar Yadav, Harsh Payal, Deepanshu Yadav, Rishabh Rajput, Amar Chaudhary, Sudhanshu Sonkar, Aranav Baliyan, Upendra Yadav (wk)

Meerut Mavericks:
Akshay Dubey (wk), Swastik Chikara, Rituraj Sharma, Madhav Kaushik (c), Divyansh Joshi, Prashanth Chaudhary, Ritik Vats, Yash Garg, Zeeshan Ansari, Vijay Kumar, Vaibhav Chaudhary, Kartik Tyagi, Sahab Yuvraj, Divyansh Rajput, Sachin Singh, Vishal Chaudhary, Aditya Kumar Singh, Rajat Sanserwal, Ansh Dwivedi

UP T20 League 2025 Final – Match Details

UP T20 League 2025 Final: Match Details
Date & Time	September 6, 2025 – 7:30 PM IST / 2:00 PM GMT
Venue	Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Final Opponents	Kashi Rudras vs Meerut Mavericks

ALSO READ: KCL 2025 Prize Money Breakdown: Champions, Runners-Up & Awards

UP T20 League 2025 Prize Money: Teams & Awards

Position / Award	Prize Money
Winners	Rs 1 crore
Runners-Up	Rs 50 lakh
Player of the Tournament	Rs 5 lakh
Best Batter	Rs 3 lakh
Best Bowler	Rs 3 lakh
Emerging Player of the Season	Rs 2 lakh

3 uncapped spinners likely to grab attention on IPL 2026 mini auction

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 14:17:50 GMT

Slow bowling options became one of the effective weapons for bowling sides in limited-over matches. There are multiple experienced spinners who graced the format as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL) with their skills. Ahead of the new edition of IPL, when most of the talks have been running around multiple big names, franchise scouts should note down some uncapped spinners' names who have the potential to be the next big thing of Indian cricket. Through his article, we will try to find 3 spinners who can create hype during the mini auction before IPL 2026.

3 spinners to watch out for:

Shams Mulani

A prolific spin-bowling all-rounder who has already made his mark in various domestic tournaments. Mulani was with the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2025 but got to play a very limited number of matches. In 2 IPL games, Mulani was unimpressive, scoring only one run and unable to take any wickets in 2 innings. But for Mumbai, in 2025, he was a stellar performer with the ball as well as with the bat.

Against Vidharbha, he took a total of 8 wickets; against Jammu and Kashmir, the all-rounder clinched 6 wickets. Unbeaten 100 he scored during the match against Meghalaya, against Haryana Mulani played a 91-run innings. The 28-year-old can be a good option for a long-term investment.

Zeeshan Ansari

Another highly talented cricketer from Uttar Pradesh. He made his IPL debut with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025 and played 10 matches. The leg spinner in 10 matches claimed 6 wickets, including a best of 3/42. During the match against Delhi Capitals, Ansari struck three times and got one wicket each against Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Harsh Dubey

Another jewel discovered by the scouts of Sunrisers Hyderabad. In IPL 2025, Dubey in 3 matches took 5 wickets. He made headlines after a 3-wicket figure against the Kolkata Knight Riders. After the conclusion of IPL, the 23-year-old played a match against England Lions for the India A team, where he got a wicket as well. In 19 first-class matches, Harsh Dubey bagged an impressive number of 98 wickets.

UP T20 2025, Match 14: Meerut Mavericks vs Noida Super Kings full match highlights

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:15:24 GMT

In the 14th match of UP 2025, Meerut Mavericks posted 184 runs losing of 7 Wickets in 20 overs. Swastik Chikara scored 20 runs, Rituraj Sharma made 34 runs, and Divyansh Rajput scored 53 runs not out. Ritik Vats and Madhav Kaushik also played important players in the game, helping the team reach a strong target in the match.

The Mighty Mavericks stand victorious before the Kings. #UPT20League #ANAXUPT20League #KhiladiYahanBantaHai #MMvsNK pic.twitter.com/3EweXer3w8
— UP T20 League (@t20uttarpradesh) August 24, 2025

Chasing 185 runs, Noida Super Kings struggled from the start of the second innings. Their captain Shivam Chaudhary got out for zero, and early wickets put them under pressure. Ravi Singh 28 runs and Karn Sharma 37 runs tried to fight back, while Prashant Veer scored 39. Satyam Sangu made 20, but the team couldn’t build enough partnerships and were all out for 143.

Zeeshan takes four Kings! One of Meerut's best in action.#UPT20League #ANAXUPT20League #KhiladiYahanBantaHai #MMvsNK pic.twitter.com/hRBNEcpSwY
— UP T20 League (@t20uttarpradesh) August 24, 2025

ALSO READ: Top 3 reasons why Central Delhi Queens lost to South Delhi Superstarz Women in the WDPL 2025 final

Meerut’s bowlers were excellent. Zeeshan Ansari took 4 crucial wickets for 17 runs, Vishal Chaudhary picked 2 wickets for 16 runs, and Kartik Tyagi took 2 wickets conceding 28 runs. Other bowlers bowled well, making it tough for NSK to chase the target. In the end of the second innings, Meerut Mavericks won the game by 41 runs.

UP T20 2025, Match 05: Lucknow Falcons vs Meerut Mavericks full match highlights

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 13:07:10 GMT

The match 5 between Lucknow Falcons and Meerut Mavericks was full of excitement in UP T20 2025. Meerut batted first but could not put up a big score in the first innings. They lost an early wicket, and though Swastik Chikara 32 runs and Madhav Kaushik 25 runs tried to steady things, the team could only reach 150 runs. In the end, small contributions from Zeeshan Ansari and Yash Garg helped them get to a fighting total. For Lucknow, bowlers Vipraj Nigam and Parv Singh bowled really well and took two wickets each to keep the Mavericks in check.

The Falcons seal a breathtaking win against the Defending Champions! #UPT20League #ANAXUPT20League #KhiladiYahanBantaHai #MMvLF pic.twitter.com/LdMznzG2LE
— UP T20 League (@t20uttarpradesh) August 19, 2025

Chasing 151, the Falcons looked calm and confident in the second innings. Aradhaya Yadav played a classy knock of 62 from 51 balls,played all along the ground. At the other end, Mohammad Saif played attacking cricket, scored 55 runs from just 33 balls.

🎥 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙞𝙩𝙨, 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜— only on UP T20 League. Four 4️⃣s back to back! #UPT20League #ANAXUPT20League #KhiladiYahanBantaHai #MMvsLF pic.twitter.com/oap4gx34bh
— UP T20 League (@t20uttarpradesh) August 19, 2025

ALSO READ: The Hundred 2025 Match 22: LNS vs MNR head-to-head, pitch report & predicted playing XIs

Together, they scored 95 runs, which completely turned the game in the second innings in the 5th game. The Falcons finally won by five wickets with nine balls left, making it their first win of the UP season 2025.

Who Is Zeeshan Ansari? Rishabh Pant’s U-19 Teammate Who Shined with 3 Wickets on His IPL Debut

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 22:54:37 GMT

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) took young leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari against a strong Delhi Capitals batting lineup. Many wondered if he was ready for the big stage like IPL, but he proved them wrong with a fantastic performance against Delhi Capitals. He showed great skill and confidence, taking the wickets of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Faf du Plessis.

The IPL is all about giving chances to young players, and Ansari grabbed his opportunity and showed his skills on this big stage. SRH made a smart buy at the IPL 2025 mega auction, getting him for just INR 40 lakh. He made like dream debut, not only dismissing Faf and McGurk but also KL Rahul back for just 15 runs. It was a perfect start to his IPL journey for him.

A Dream Debut ✨

Zeeshan Ansari couldn't have asked for better wickets in his maiden #TATAIPL appearance 🧡

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/L4vEDKyVsb #DCvSRH | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/WHKiLX30Uw
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 30, 2025

Who is Zeeshan Ansari? Dream Debut in the IPL

Zeeshan Ansari is a promising leg-spinner from Uttar Pradesh who has been making a name for himself in domestic cricket. His impressive performances, taking 17 wickets in just five first-class matches. He was also part of the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup squad, playing alongside Rishabh Pant.

ALSO READ: Jofra Archer’s Historic Maiden Over in IPL 2025

His strong showing in the UP T20 League, where he took 24 wickets in 12 matches at an economy of 7.63, made him a player to watch. SRH spotted his potential and signed him for INR 40 lakh a move that is already proving to be a masterstroke.

Zeeshan Ansari Bowling Stats

Format	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10w
FC	5	9	858	523	17	3/33	6/125	30.76	3.65	50.4	0	0	0
T20s	2	2	48	74	3	3/42	3/42	24.66	9.25	16.0	0	0	0