This Vijay Hazare Trophy is not a place for bowlers. Hundreds drop like flies in Mumbai local trains. Three hundred is a normal score. Double hundreds happen for breakfast. In this run fest, one wrist spinner is refusing to follow the script. Zeeshan Ansari is making the ball turn when everyone says it shouldn’t.
A tailor’s dream
Naeem Ansari stitched clothes for a living. He had brothers who did the same work. He had kids and did not want this life for them. He wanted something else. Something stable. A government job maybe. That was the dream.
In early 2000s India, sports could bring that job. Naeem thought about this. He thought hard. Then he acted. Late 2000s, he put four kids from his family into the Government Sports Academy near their house. Zeeshan was one of them. The boy was four or five when he first played cricket on his streets. He wanted to bowl. Not bat. He tried to spin the ball even then.
Uncle who batted in lanes
During an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Naeem told a story. Zeeshan would wake up early. Reach the academy. Grab any batter. Bowl at them all day. When one tired, another came. This went on. At home, it did not stop. Uncle Gayas Ansari would bat for him in the lane next to their house. Gayas took Zeeshan to the academy and back. He played with him at home. For this, he spent less time at the tailor shop. His family agreed.
The teenage storm
2014. Zeeshan was 15. He had done well in club cricket. Uttar Pradesh called him for Under-16 trials. They said no. But something odd happened. That same season, Under-19 and Under-23 teams picked him. Rejection became double promotion.
Back in 2014-15, at the Cooch Behar Trophy, he snared 40 wickets. Highest in the tournament. Then at the Colonel CK Nayudu Under-23 tournament, 18 more wickets including three five-fors. Averaged 13.44. People should have noticed then.
India’s 2016 Under-19 World Cup squad came next. Zeeshan played just two matches but he got paid. He used the money to fix his house. The roof leaked for years. Now it stopped.
The long wait
After the World Cup, Zeeshan took thirty wickets in the 2016-17 CK Nayudu Trophy. Most for Uttar Pradesh. Ranji Trophy selection followed. Zeeshan debuted against Railways. He took three wickets in each innings. The team left him out next match. So he waited. And he’s still waiting. Just five first-class games. That’s all he has.
Purple cap that changed everything
Then 2024 arrived. Uttar Pradesh Premier League. Zeeshan grabbed the Purple Cap with 24 wickets. Meerut Mavericks won the whole thing. That changed his world. IPL franchises called him for trials. Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for forty lakh rupees in the late 2024 auction. Naeem called it God’s miracle. “Nobody gets anything before it’s time,” he said to ESPNCricinfo. The tailor’s son was going to the IPL.
IPL: The big stage
Before his IPL debut, Zeeshan had played only one T20 match. He took three wickets in his debut IPL game. He dismissed Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul. Then Adam Zampa got injured. Sunrisers Hyderabad needed a spinner. Rahul Chahar sat in the squad. They chose Zeeshan. He became the frontline spinner.
After his debut, he played nine more IPL games. He managed to pick only three wickets in those nine games. IPL stage was tough. Batters hit hard. The ball did not always listen. But he kept his place.
List A debut that shocked everyone
Now comes Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025. Zeeshan’s List A debut. The world watches batters smash runs. Zeeshan makes the ball do things it should not do on these flat tracks.
Four matches, 13 wickets, economy under five, average of 13. You see these numbers and you think someone dug up a scorecard from the 90s. That stuff does not happen now.
Against Hyderabad in his first match, he started a collapse twice. First he got captain Rahul Singh. Then Rahul Budhi. Hyderabad were 101 for no loss after thirteen overs. They crashed to 240 all out. Zeeshan finished with 4 for 31.
Next match versus Chandigarh. 4 wickets for 29 runs. Same control. Same fight.
Then came the Baroda game. Runs everywhere. Both teams piled up nearly 700 runs. Zeeshan gave away 53 but took three wickets. His economy rate stayed solid through all that chaos.
Against Assam, same story. They were flying at 241 for three. He broke them. Zeeshan took three middle-order wickets. Assam folded for 308. He had done it again.
What it all means
Zeeshan Ansari is not a mystery spinner. He does not have carrom balls or weird variations. He just gives the ball a big rip. He bowls long spells. He believes the ball will turn even when wickets are roads. His father wanted a government job. His uncle batted in narrow lanes. The academy became his home. The journey took sixteen years.
In a world where batters own cricket, Zeeshan is proof that bowlers still matter. That waiting matters. That a boy from a tailor shop can make the white ball talk. This Vijay Hazare Trophy has found its unlikely hero. IPL might be watching again. This time, the numbers are too big to ignore.
