Delhi Premier League: Sujal hits T20 mode, takes East Delhi Riders to win

Left-handed batsman Sujal Singh, who led East Delhi Riders to a resounding seven-wicket win over South Delhi Superstarz in the Delhi Premier League T20 on Thursday, would not have become a cricketer had his father not put his foot down and given him the freedom to play the game.

Sujal’s father was a talented footballer, having represented Haryana, but faced resistance from his own father who wanted him to not take up sports as a career.

“My grandfather used to play football but faced a lot of struggle in becoming a player. Eventually, he became a school teacher in Haryana. Back in those days, there weren’t too many opportunities in sports, especially football, so he wanted his son, my father, to focus on academics and not pick sports full-time,” said Sujal after his 32-ball 63 (7x4s, 3x6s) lit up the night at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

“But my father allowed me to persist with cricket. In fact, he encouraged me to pick cricket over academics.”

The 20-year-old Sujal had been cased in the mould of a multi-day format batsman, which, for a modern-day cricketer looking to cash in on white-ball cricket is an anathema.

He has strong basics, there is no doubt as some of his shots on Thursday night proved. But over the past year, he has tried to overcome that, bringing in improvisation.

Batsman Sujal Singh blazed to 63 off 32 balls

“I have worked on it. Improvisation is necessary in T20 because the bowler poses various questions in the format. Sometimes, he bowls a slower delivery, sometimes he bowls a bouncer. You have to innovate for results.”

Sujal, who represents Madras Cricket Club in DDCA League and plays for Rann Star in private tournaments, spent time in the past months developing the T20 aspect of his game.

“During the rainy season, my off-season, I worked very hard, especially in open nets. Many of my seniors would come and bowl at me. We used to play match situations like targeting runs in powerplay. Tried new shots there and that helped develop confidence.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWE0I5pvAzw

On Thursday, he got the team off to a blazing start, showcasing great shots that made the 191 runs scored by South Delhi Superstarz seem at par.

South Delhi had got off to a good start, reaching 60/1 in the powerplay but managed only 61 in the next eight overs.

The urge to accelerate saw them lose wickets and from 121/3, they were reduced to 122/6. In fact, they lost four wickets for 14 runs in 18 balls.

But Dhruv Singh hammered his way to a 23-ball fifty, hitting five sixes to take SDS to 191/7 in 20 overs. He took 28 runs of Simarjeet Singh’s last over, making it the most expensive of DPL. The Delhi right-arm pacer also conceded 62 runs, the most in a spell in DPL so far.

However, Simarjeet’s day was saved by Sujal’s knock. Hardik Sharma chipped in with unbeaten 43 off 24 in the chase.

Brief Scores

South Delhi Superstarz 191/7 in 20 overs (Priyansh Arya 53 off 32, Dhruv Singh 50 off 23, Mayank Rawat 2/33, Harsh Tyagi 2/17) lost to East Delhi Riders 193/3 in 17.5 overs (Sujal Singh 63 off 32, Himmat Singh 29 off 11, Ayush Badoni 2/23) by seven wickets

Tags : Delhi Premier League, Cricket, Sujal Singh, Dhruv Singh, East Delhi Riders, South Delhi Superstarz, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Ferozeshah Kotla