Swastik Chikara

A product of his father’s undying commitment and sacrifice, Swastik Chikara was born to a family immersed in sporting culture. His father, Surendra, was an athletic coach, apart from being a sub-inspector under Delhi Police. Swastik’s grandfather was a shot putter while his great-grandfather was a sprinter. Surendra's sisters– Savita and Sheel– were also 100m and 200m sprinters.

Surendra dedicated most of his life after marriage to the development of his son Swastik. From abandoning the poor resources in a Ghaziabad cricket academy to setting up a dozen turfs at his residence, Swastik’s father’s endeavours behind his success are nothing shy of incredible.

The right-handed batter, known for his hard-hitting abilities trained hard under his father’s stewardship, resulting in his success in age-group cricket (U14, U-16, U-19, U-23, U-25) for his state. His mesmerising performance helped him fetch a name for India B before stamping his authority in the 2023 Uttar Pradesh Premier League (UPL). For the Meerut Mavericks, he mustered 494 runs at an astounding average of 70.57 while maintaining a strike rate of 173.33. In his nine innings, Swastik smashed three centuries and a couple of fifties. 

In that same season, he attended the trials of Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Delhi Capitals to see him attract bidders in the mini-auction for the 2024 Indian Premier League. He was snared by the Delhi franchise for a base price of INR 20 lakhs, but the top-order batter didn’t get a chance to debut.

However, later that year, Chikara made his List A debut for UP and struck a blistering 117 off 101 balls against Himachal Pradesh. 

Swastik wasn’t too complacent with his sudden success as he continued his red-hot form with the willow, amassing 499 runs from 12 innings in UPL 2024.

He was the top run-getter in the 2024 UPL and averaged 49.90 with the bat for the Mavericks. The swashbuckler struck five fifties and a century at a shattering strike rate of 185.50.

Following on, he made his First Class (against Bengal) and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (against Delhi) debut this season but had little success. 

However, his clean ball-striking attitude and ability to score a chunk of runs earned him a contract with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for IPL 2025. This, too, was a controversial one where both DC and RCB raised the bid but the former's appeal went unnoticed by the auctioneer, resulting in Swastik Chikara’s change in IPL franchises.

(As of March 2025)