The youngster was the top scorer of the league in 2024
Swastik Chikara was one of the biggest talents to come out of the Uttar Pradesh T20 League last year as he razed the ground with his batting exploits, scoring 499 runs from 12 matches.
This also included a hundred and a stunning five fifties – three of which were among the top 10 highest individual scores in the 2024 edition.
As a result of Chikara’s batting exploits, his team Meerut Mavericks went on to the top the points table with eight wins out of 10 matches and then beat Kanpur Superstars to clinch the title.
TKR
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ABF
–
SLK
–
SKA
–
MIEDM
–
DCDM
–
GGDM
–
DVDM
–
PD
–
SDS
–
EDR
–
CDK
–
NDS
–
NDT
–
CLZ
–
NEZ
–
NTZ
–
EZ
–
BAC
–
TSA
–
UCCB
–
TSA
–
UCCB
–
CLJ
–
BAC
–
TSA
–
UCCB
–
CLJ
–
LKLS
–
CLJ
–
ACB
–
TSA
–
ACB
–
CLJ
–
LKLS
–
CLJ
–
ACB
–
TSA
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
PNG
–
KNY
66/1
QAT
43/0
DEN
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DEN
–
KWT
–
PNG
–
JER
–
CAN
–
NAM
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GER-W
30/0
NED-W
175/4
ITA-W
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IRE-W
–
MUR
–
NK
–
LLG
–
NWW
–
CAGS
249/4
KBTS
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ATR
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TTS
–
KBTS
–
ATR
–
ARKS
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ALRS
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MGD
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BNB
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HBT
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TBC
–
ROS
–
YSG
–
MAT
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IAI
–
TMB
183/6
WSS
165/5
IPS
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NSBB
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SGR
–
RLS
–
UOQ
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WYN
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SSC
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SBB
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TRR
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BIP
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SOB
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WEF
–
TRW-W
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BIP-W
–
SBW-W
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WFW-W
–
LUF
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MEMA
159/3
GOLS
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NOSK
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KASS
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LUF
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NOSK
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KARS
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Along with Sameer Rizvi of Kanpur and Vipraj Nigam of Lucknow Falcons who went to Delhi Capitals and Zeeshan Ansari who was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chikara was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for his base price of INR 30 lakh in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction.
Even though he didn’t get a game, Chikara became quite famous during the course of the season as he stuck close to his idol Virat Kohli like a shadow, often pranking and annoying the former skipper. When RCB won the title against Punjab Kings and Kohli fell on his haunches in a heap of happy tears, it was Chikara who first ran on to the pitch and hugged him.
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Once back in the UP T20 League, the 20-year old is back to doing what he is best at – scoring runs. Even though he hasn’t been as fluent as the last edition, Chikara has scored important runs for the Meerut Mavericks.
In the recent match against Kashi Rudras, Chikara smashed five sixes and three boundaries on his way to 58 off 41 balls in a chase of 225. However, he was the best batter for his side as they lost the match by 91 runs.
On Wednesday, Chikara played another blinder while opening for Meerut against Lucknow Falcons. The youngster smashed 55 off 31 balls which was studded with four boundaries and as many sixes. Rituraj Sharma’s unbeaten 74 off 37 balls then took Meerut to a mammoth 233/4 in 20 overs.
Chikara is not too far away from catching Kashi’s Karan Sharma as he has scored 243 from seven matches and one or two big innings in the next five league games could take him back to the top.
