Jonty Sidhu reveals new-found T20 style as Central Delhi Kings power to DPL final

New Delhi: Jonty Sidhu has for long been the sacrificial lamb for Delhi cricket selectors. The left-handed batsman, known for his gritty and dour batting, has rescued Delhi on several occasions in Ranji Trophy. Despite several of his good knocks, he has struggled to get a regular place in the squad.

Getting the short shrift has seemingly forced him to change his game and make it more attuned to the shortest format. The left-handed batsman, standing in as skipper for Yash Dhull who is busy with North Zone, showed his ability to play T20 style of cricket with a 46-ball 106 not out (10x6s, 5x4s) to lead Central Delhi Kings to a 72-run win over Purani Dilli 6 in Qualifier 2 of the Delhi Premier League underway at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here.

"I am happy. I contributed with bat and ball (3/25). The team needed it most today," said Sidhu after the match.

Till about the 15th over, it seemed like Purani Dilli 6 had the upper hand. They had spilled a few catches by then. Sidhu was dropped on 42 by Gaurav Saroha at square leg off Dev Lakra when the score was 100/3. Cashing in on that, Sidhu reached his fifty off 29 balls (52 mins, 4x4s, 3x6s).

Then he opened his arms. What went right for him was the tactic employed by the Purani Dilli 6 bowlers. They attempted wide yorkers and rarely you'd see wide yorkers being off-target on so many occasions. Those misdirected wide yorkers, which failed to land on the ground, were cannon fodder for the big-built Sidhu, who can back up his strength with perfect timing of the ball.

"[Aditya] Bhandari and I were talking that if both us of continue to play, we will get runs in one of the overs. I hit four sixes in an over and Bhandari also hit two in an over, so we managed to cross 200," said Sidhu.

"They began using wide yorker for me. I knew where the ball would arrive, so I knew how to tackle them. Got the right hits by God's grace."

Without a guarantee of a place in the Ranji Trophy squad, Sidhu has been trying hard to tweak his game to T20 format. Seemingly, he is eyeing the IPL and with that in sight, he has stayed put in Delhi cricket circuit to get an opportunity to play DPL and through it to get to IPL.

"In modern-day cricket, you need to play quickly and fast. I have grown up practicing with the red ball like we do in academies. Also I have been playing Ranji Trophy for a long time, so that game is sorted. I have practiced it for a long time. But I have been trying to develop this [T20] game for the last couple of years. For the last 6-7 months, I have been trying very hard to improve this format. Because wherever there is any talk about a game, it is about this game," added Sidhu who faced just eight dot deliveries.

This century will go a long way in establishing him as a multi-format player and make him more useful to any association.

While Sidhu went berserk, Aditya Bhandari (24 off 12) provided him with good support. The two added 64 in 22 balls -- 50 partnership came off 18 balls -- as Central Delhi Kings reached 218/5 in 20 overs.

Purani Dilli 6, in response, folded for just 146 in 17.4 overs with Sidhu returning as the pick of the bowlers with 3/25. Money Grewal (2/27), Tejas Baroka (2/19) and Gavnish Khurana (2/32) picked two wickets to guide Central Delhi Kings to a big win. Only Samarth Seth (45 off 28) and Impact Player Dhananjai Singh (34 off 21) showed any gumption to fight.

Central Delhi face South Delhi Superstarz in the final on Sunday night.

Tags : Jonty Sidhu, Delhi Premier League, Central Delhi Kings, Yash Dhull, Dev Lakra, Aditya Bhandari, Purani Dilli