Tall Divij Mehra wants to emulate Glenn McGrath

Divij Mehra, a tall 6-feet 5-inch bowler, could easily be the successor to Ishant Sharma in Delhi cricket and possibly at the international level.

Although it is still early days and he is coping with his sudden spurt in height that is putting some load on his young 21-year-old body, there is no doubt about the talent he possesses.

For those who witnessed Delhi’s historic win over Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy last season, a victory that came after a gap of 43 years, Mehra had played a crucial role, picking Prithvi Shaw in both innings and also getting Sarfaraz Khan for a first-ball duck in second innings. He picked five wickets in an innings.

The delivery to Sarfaraz was classic – it came from outside off and beat the defence to rattle the stumps.

The Modern School, Barakhamba Road, product has just recovered from a hip flexor injury that ruled him out of the 2023-24 season after the impressive 2022-23 season.

Interest in cricket developed through his father, Rakesh Mehra, now into property business, played for the Khalsa College.

“I used to play daily. Then I began liking it, so I continued with it,” says the resident of New Friends Colony. 

Love for the game made him switch schools.

Earlier, he used to study at Step by Step School in Noida, which had no cricket facilities. But then he moved to Modern School, where Uday Gupta transformed him from a batsman to a bowler.

He still trains at Gupta’s training academy, the Uday Gupta Cricket Academy (UGCA) in RK Puram. 

The move to a new school paid dividends. He played Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) league cricket for Essex Farms as a 14 or 15-year-old and soon found his way into the Delhi under-16 team.

“I played under-16 in my last year in age group cricket. I then progressed to under-19 and then Ranji Trophy,” Mehra tells www.thedelhijunction.com.

The under-23 season this year was good on personal front. He led the team, which missed out on qualifying for the one-day knockouts by a whisker, picking 17 wickets in six matches, the highest for his team.

He couldn’t play the multi-day format as he was called up for Ranji, where he played two games with the first washed out. But after the game against MP in which he took five wickets, he had to sit out due to injury. 

“I got injured after being called up for Ranji Trophy,” says the bowler who idolises Glenn McGrath.

“I have always idolised Glenn McGrath. Besides him, James Anderson is also a favourite.”

His height gives him that extra bounce but it has also led to increase in the frequency of injuries.

“Earlier, since I was shorter, I could bowl longer spells without injury, bowl 8-9 overs in one go. I am trying to do the same. Trying to bowl continuously. My target is to build strength and fitness so that my body copes with that. Hope my pace increases and doesn’t get injured. Hope I fix my body well.”

With the kind of accuracy the bowler possesses, it is likely that he will go a long way.

But as of now, his first test will be exploring the level of fitness.

Tags : Cricket, Delhi, DDCA, Divij Mehra, Glenn McGrath, James Anderson, Ishant Sharma