Lucknow: As many as fifteen wickets, including a seven wicket haul in just four senior division matches in local cricket even after the end of the domestic season, underlines hard work being put in with his leg spin by young leg spinner Zeeshan Ansari ahead of the new season of the Indian Premier League.
A sensational debut season with Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where Ansari took 21 wickets across eight matches, boasting an exceptional average of 16.52 and an economy under five runs per over on batter-friendly pitches, has boosted his confidence. He is aiming to make it big with his only second stint with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“There is no alternative of performance so I didn’t skip the local matches after missing the last phase of the Ranji Trophy as I was at rest. I know what it takes to be successful. I am preparing myself for the new season of the IPL,” said Zeeshan, who may miss the inaugural edition of the Lucknow Premier League next month as he is due to join the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s training in the first week of March.
“I am not sure about the LPL as I am not aware about the schedule. But for sure I will be attending the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s camp from March 1,” said Ansari.
However, the 26-year-old right-armer is eying a breakout season after a promising IPL debut, blending wrist-spin guile with consistency to challenge for a regular spot.
In fact, Ansari’s ascent traces back to the inaugural UP T20 League in 2024, where he dominated as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps in 12 matches at a stellar 7.60 economy, including a match-winning 1/20 in the Meerut Mavericks’ triumphant final.
This purple patch earned him a ₹40 lakh SRH contract for IPL 2025, where he debuted sensationally against Delhi Capitals, snaring 3/42, his career-best en route to six wickets in 10 games with an economy rate of 9.84.
Ansari, who has now shifted his training base to the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College nowadays after his original venue the LDA Stadium was leased out to a private party, said that his debut season in Vijay Hazare Trophy made him a much stronger bowler in the white ball cricket.
“My stint with Meerut Mavericks in the UPT20 League last year under Rinku Singh’s captaincy did the real magic as he showed a lot of faith in me and kept encouraging me throughout the event,” said Ansari.
The revival of Ansari despite having 17 first-class wickets in five Ranji Trophy matches in his early days is something quite interesting. “I kept working on my game,” he shared post-revival, targeting sub-8 economy and multi-wicket hauls in IPL 2026’s high-octane battles.
Ansari’s journey to Sunrisers Hyderabad also exemplifies persistence paying off in Indian cricket’s cutthroat ecosystem. The Lucknow-born leg-spinner, long overlooked despite early promise, caught SRH’s eagle-eyed scouts through his breakout dominance in the inaugural Uttar Pradesh T20 League (UPT20) in 2024.
Former India off-spinner Gopal Sharma has been one of the admirers of Ansari and feels that the upcoming IPL season would certainly be a different season for the young spinner. “In the last few years, Ansari has changed a lot, got plenty of variation in his bowling, especially googlies and I am sure that this time he is going to be a much better bowler in the IPL,” said Sharma on Tuesday.
