A net session and a leg-spinner recording and uploading bowling sessions on Instagram using his phone. Ten months after he posted his first reel, Izaz Sawaria’s name entered the coveted player pool of the IPL auction. Even if it didn’t end with a team raising a paddle for him, Sawaria’s reels to auction story is unusual.
“I just felt I should put them (reels) out there. You never know what might happen in the future,” Sawaria, the son of an Indian Air Force officer, tells The Indian Express.
The 20-year-old, who plays district cricket for Ajmer but hasn’t played state cricket at any level for Rajasthan and is eligible for Under-23s, didn’t allow the disappointment of missing out on the IPL to linger for long. He waited through the second round, hoping his name would come up. When it didn’t, he moved on quickly. The very next day, he went back to the ground and played a match.
“I thought I’ll start again. I’ll give myself a restart. I haven’t represented a state yet. So for me, it was still an achievement that my name was in the IPL auction. I’m taking it in a positive way,” Sawaria, who has around 38,200 Instagram followers, adds.
Initially, he wanted to post more batting reels than bowling, but a friend’s suggestion to think otherwise led to Sawaria sharing a regular stream of bowling clips — leg-spin, variations, and small experiments — posted without worrying too much about views or reactions.
Comments, messages from stars
Then came the moment that changed how people around him viewed his cricket. England leg-spinner Adil Rashid commented on one of his videos.
“When someone like him comments, you feel you have something in you,” Sawaria says. “Before that, people watched the reels, but it didn’t feel serious. After that, people around me started taking it much more seriously.”
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Rashid would go on to comment on nearly 15–20 reels. Soon, other international spinners noticed too, including South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi. More recently, Sawaria also received a message from former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
“Tabraiz Shamsi commented on a few reels, but I didn’t speak to him. I have spoken to Adil Rashid, and recently I also received a message from Harbhajan Singh,” he says.
Gradually, the impact moved beyond Instagram — to the IPL. Sunil Joshi, who was until recently the bowling coach of Punjab Kings before he left to join BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, saw one of his reels and asked for his number.
A little while later, Sawaria was called for a trial by the franchise.
“For me, just reaching there was a big thing. Punjab Kings called me for trials first. I stayed relaxed, bowled freely, and performed well. After that, they put my name in the auction,” he says. Chennai Super Kings, the team he grew up supporting because of MS Dhoni, didn’t call him for trials, though conversations took place.
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Away from the phone camera, the work was routine. Sawaria bowled to batters in the nets, with the reels shot only after net sessions. He trains at Sanskar Cricket Academy in Jaipur, where coach Surendra Singh Rathore has played a key role in his development.
“He worked on my bowling, improved my skill set and pointed out my mistakes,” Sawaria says. “He has been working with me for three years and still does.”
For now, the plan remains simple: keep working. keep bowling. keep posting.
“I’m working hard again,” Sawaria says. “I’m making videos again.”
