Twin centuries, Joons blossom in June

When the current BCCI national selector Ajay Ratra was playing Ranji Trophy for Haryana in 1999, Praveen Joon was sitting on the bench as stand-bye. There was no way he could get past the first-choice stumper who would go on to play Test cricket for India alongside the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.

But Joon was never disheartened. Providence granted him twins. He decided to live his dream through them.

Siddharth is seven minutes older to Siddhant and in the first two matches of the DDCA Hot Weather League, representing the Rajinder Nagar Colts, both the brothers have scored centuries.

The left-handed Siddharth scored 111 off 57 balls in the inaugural match at the Ferozeshah Kotla against Citizen Cricket Club in the ongoing DDCA Hot Weather Cricket Tournament while Siddhant scored 104 off 82 balls as Rajinder Nagar Colts beat Mount Cricket Club at the Essex Farms Ground in Delhi on Wednesday.

"We are twins, and were part of Delhi under-19 squad but my older brother only got to play (10-11 matches). I was among the standbye players," says Siddhant, whose knock of 104 helped Rajinder Nagar score 223 all out in 37 overs. Mount, in response, were bowled out for 181 in 31 overs.

"I bowl fast. Siddharth keeps wickets. Dad inspired us to take up cricket," says the 18-year-old who stays in Pitampura's RU Block.

The two enrolled at the Uday Bhan Cricket Academy in Pitampura Sports Complex when they were around nine years of age.

"We have been playing DDCA League since the age of 13. Last year, we represented SB Youth in Hot Weather and I scored a ton against Mount CC."

The duo, representing Youngster CC in DDCA League, passed out of NK Bagrodia Public School, Sector-9 Rohini and then skipped the last year, not going to college, to focus on cricket.

Their father did likewise, taking a break from his business.

At a time when parents quitting their professions to focus solely on their children's career has become the norm especially in cricket (remember Nitish Reddy's father gave up his job to oversee his son's development), Praveen quit his construction business and rented a ground near Alipur to train his kids. The ground is a 20 to 25-minute drive from their home and is in proximity to the Chhattar Singh Stadium which has been hosting some DDCA League matches.

"We train in the morning with our father at the ground. We have two pitches there. Then in the evening, we go to Uday Bhan sir," says Siddhant.

The family hails from Sonepat.

"Dad wanted Siddharth to bat, I was asked to bowl. When Siddharth was 13-14, he began keeping wickets. I began bowling when I was 15 as I gained strength. But we both bat."

"I love Virat Kohli, he likes AB de Villiers."

Let's not forget cricket's famous twins, Steve and Mark Waugh, who represented Australia. But if these boys play for Delhi or India, it will be extremely tough to differentiate between the two. For unlike the Waughs, who could be differentiated, Joons look carbon copy of each other.

"Unfortunately, we cannot fool the opposition on the pitch. Siddharth is left-handed and I am right-handed."

(Note: In the picture, Siddhant Joon is on the left while Siddharth Joon is the right)  

Brief scores: Rajinder Nagar Colts 223 all out in 37 overs (Siddhant Joon 104, Shashank Singh 34, Vishal Rai 3/35, Abhishek 3/43) beat Mount CC 181 all out in 31 overs (Ayush Vats 39, Ronit Berry 3/16) by 42 runs

Other DDCA Hot Weather League Matches

Ajmal Khan triumph

Left-arm spinner Aathrey Tripathi (4/23) and Dinesh Mor 67 not out helped Ajmal Khan beat DTC by 10 wickets at the Shivaji College Ground.

Brief scores: DTC 83 all out in 24 overs (Amit Khatri 17, Aathrey Tripathi 4/23, Sandeep Mor 2/25) lost to Ajmal Khan Club 87 without loss in 7 overs (Dinesh Mor 67 not out) by 10 wickets.

Vishal takes six wickets

Left-arm spinner Vishal Choudhary's 6/26 and half-centuries from Tushar Bhardwaj (84), Kush Nagpal (76) and Aryan Sharma (66) helped PMG beat Roop Nagar CC by 177 runs at the Modern School Ground 2.

Brief scores: PMG 291/4 in 40 overs (Tushar Bhardwaj 84, Kush Nagpal 76, Vinay Kumar 2/32) beat Roop Nagar 114 all out in 24 overs (Ashish Sehrawat 47, Vishal Choudhary 6/26) by 177 runs

SB Youth trump DDA

All-round performance by right-handed batsman Karan Kashyap (43 runs and 2/14) and Hriday Sanswal's 3/21 helped SB Youth Club beat DDA by eight wickets at the Chhattar Singh Stadium.

Brief scores: DDA 110 all out in 26.2 overs (Pragyan 20, Hriday Sanswal 3/21, Karan Kashyap 2/14) lost to SB Youth Club 113/2 in 16 overs (Karan Kashyap 43) by eight wickets.

Delhi Blues win

Off-spinner Bhavya Kakkar's 3/40 and Mandeep Singh's 51 helped Delhi Blues Club beat Ekta Club by seven wickets at the Shyam Choudhary Ground.

Brief scores: Ekta Club 170 all out in 39 overs (Manthan Tanwar 68, Bhavya Kakkar 3/21, Parnit Tiwari 2/15) lost to Delhi Blues 171/3 in 26 overs (Mandeep Singh 51, Mohd Saba Karim 2/32) by seven wickets.

Vimanyu, Saksham hit centuries

Left-handed batsman Vimanyu Kumar (172 runs off 112 balls, 12x4s, 10x6s) and wicketkeeper-batsman Saksham Sharma (109 runs off 94 balls, 10x4s, 4x6s) powered Delhi CC to a 164-run win over Delhi Gymkhana Club at the Central Secretariat Ground 2.

Brief scores: Delhi CC 333/3 in 40 overs (Vimanyu Kumar 172, Saksham Sharma 109) beat Delhi Gymkhana 169 all out in 25 overs (Jai Ahuja 54, Shivam Thakur 4/43, Abhishek Kaushik 3/27) by 164 runs

Tags : DDCA, Delhi, Siddharth Joon, Siddhant Joon