Credit: KCL
Salman Nizar has been a talk of the town in the cricketing fraternity after his batting heroics in the ongoing Kerala Cricket League (KCL) 2025. Playing for Calicut Globestars in the 19th match of the season, the left-handed batsman went on to smash an unbeaten 86* runs off just 26 balls against Adani Trivandrum Royals. Out of these 86 runs, Nizar went on to accumulate 69 runs in just the last two overs of the innings. In those 12 balls, he smashed 11 sixes.
With the help of Salman Hazir’s unreal batting, Calicut Globstar went on to amass 71 runs in the last two overs posting 186/6 in 20 overs. After that, Adani Trivandrum Royals were bowled out for 173 runs as the Globstars won the match by 13 runs. After this knock, Salman has caught the attention of several cricket fans and might have gotten the attention from the top franchises in the Indian Premier League. There can be a few franchises who might think of adding Salman Nizar in their scheme of things for the next edition of the IPL in 2026.
Let’s have a look at the three teams that are likely to target Salman Nizar in IPL 2026 auction:
Chennai Super Kings
One of the franchises who are likely to bid first for Salman Nizar if he comes in the IPL 2026 auction could be the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. Notably, Nizar was also invited for trials by CSK ahead of IPL 2025 but his performance was overlooked in the final selection. Now, looking at his recent performance, CSK will be looking to get him in their squad for IPL 2026. CSK also need a stable batter in the middle-order in the middle-order after their poor outing with the bat in IPL 2025 where the batters weren’t able to accelerate in the middle overs.
Lucknow Super Giants
Lucknow Super Giants are among the franchises who are likely to go for Salman Nizar in the IPL 2026 auction and can also spend a big purse on him in the auction. LSG management wouldn’t have any issues with the top-order including the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran who performed consistently in IPL 2025. However, there wasn’t any remarkable performance from the middle-order batters. Now, LSG will be looking to strengthen their batting lineup with the inclusion of Salman Nizar who can be a useful addition in the squad for the upcoming season.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders had star batters like Andre Russell, Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer as their key players in the middle-order. However, none of them could give any remarkable performance in IPL 2025 apart from one of two matches. KKR will be looking to add Salman Nizar in their squad during the IPL 2026 auction and strengthen their batting unit. However, it is most likely that Nizar will be a backup player if KKR picks him for IPL 2026 and might not be seen all 14 matches in the league stage.
