Who is Zeeshan Ansari? Sunrisers Hyderabad spinner who wrecked havoc against Delhi Capitals on IPL debut

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins opted to bat first after winning the toss against Delhi Capitals in an afternoon game in Visakhapatnam on Sunday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The two teams have done one change each to their playing XI.

KL Rahul made his IPL debut for Delhi Capitals on predictable lines, replacing Samir Rizvi. However, the change announced by Pat Cummins for SRH made fans to raise their eyebrows.

Sunrisers Hyderabad left pacer Simarjeet Singh, and included Zeeshan Ansari in the playing XI. Interestingly, Simarjeet Singh is part of the substitutes list, which means the change was a tactical one rather than an injury forced move.

With the inclusion of leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari, it allows Pat Cummins to bring in an Indian substitute for Australia Adam Zampa. Zeeshan Ansari was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹30 lakh during the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Who's Zeeshan Ansari?

Born in Lucknow, the 25-year-old Zeeshan Ansari made his T20 debut for Uttar Pradesh against Uttarakhand in 2019. As it turned out, it was his only T20 game for the leggie in is domestic career before his debut appearance against Delhi Capitals on Sunday.

As far his first-class games are concerned, Zeeshan Ansari played just five games, scoring 523 runs. The UP cricketer grabbed limelight when he impressed in the Uttar Pradesh T20 league last year.

His 24 wickets for the eventual winners, Meerut Mavericks last September grabbed the eyeballs of Sunrisers Hyderabad scouts. Delhi Capitals leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam took 20 wickets to finish in the list of most wickets in the same tournament.

Earlier, Zeeshan Ansari also represented India in the 2016 U-19 World Cup, and played with the likes of Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan, his current SRH teammate. Zeeshan played two games in the World Cup and took two wickets.

DC vs SRH playing XIs

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (C), Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Shami

Delhi Capitals: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (C), Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar

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