Ryan Rickelton

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ryan Rickelton

• Ryan Rickelton was born into a sports-loving family as his father also played cricket while his mother Penny played squash during her teenage years.

• His father told him that he should become an opening batsman wicketkeeper if he was serious about becoming a cricketer.

• He also played squash, soccer, and rugby in provincial tournaments while growing up.

  

• His brother, Dean, also played cricket and rugby, but later studied IT and moved to London.

• He later had problems with sweep shot after which his father told him that he should not play it. He then contacted his mentor, Neil McKenzie, who corrected his technique.

• At the age of 5, he practised his strokes by hanging a ball on a tree outside his father’s garage.

• When he was 6-7 years old, he played cricket in the United Kingdom (UK) for his school team.

• He later moved to New Zealand where he played cricket for one year.

• When he was 12 years old, he started training under Peter Stringer who made him play 300 balls without any aerial shot that helped him play long innings.

  

• He also participated in weightlifting competitions under his weightlifting coach, Ndjike Steve Franck Kafang, and made an Under-14 weightlifting snatch record in Gauteng province by lifting 61 kg.

• To become a better wicketkeeper, he trained in the movement patterns involved in Olympic weightlifting under the strength and conditioning coaches named Steve Kafang and Rodney Anthony.

• He also focuses on contact points and rotation of shoulders and can do snatches up to 100 kgs and clean and jerks up to 110 kgs.

• In the 2017–18 Sunfoil 3-Day Cup, he was the leading runscorer for Gauteng with 562 runs in 6 matches.

  

• From March 2020 to October 2022, he worked as an assistant at KeConcepts.

• In October 2023, he started his coffee shop Roasted Coffee Co. as the director.

• On 27 September 2024, he scored his first T20I half-century with 76 runs in 48 deliveries with 3 fours and 6 sixes against Ireland.

• On 5 December 2024, he made his maiden test hundred with 101 runs against Sri Lanka in the first innings.

• In December 2024, he was acquired by Mumbai Indians in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for his base price of Rs 1 crores.

• In January 2025, he scored his first test double-hundred with 259 runs against Pakistan in the first innings.

• During the 2025 Champions Trophy held in Pakistan, he made his first ODI century with 103 runs against Afghanistan.

  

• He had a cat named James which died in October 2024.

  

• He uses hot and cold therapy to recover faster from the fatigue.

• He likes to drink alcoholic drinks such as whiskey or beer during parties.