Yash Bhatia's power play takes FCI to semis after win over Sonnet

Yash Bhatia, a 20-year-old batsman with an ability to hit clean, powerful shots and extract gaps, has made such a strong impression in the Delhi cricket circuit that he has already been grabbed by Food Corporation of India (FCI) on a stipend.

FCI veterans Chetan Sharma and Mayank Sidana as well as Yogesh Sachdeva, the manager-coach of the team, speak very highly of him.

On Wednesday, he showcased his precocious talent, hammering unbeaten 85 off 45 balls (9x4s, 4x6s) to help FCI overpower Sonnet by eight wickets and four balls to spare.

There was drama prior to the start of this match, which was taking place at the Talent Sports Academy and just a stone's throw from two other quarterfinals in the Chhawla area, where grounds are located amid farms.

Two DDCA T20 League matches were played at Talent Sports Academy on Tuesday, forcing the groundstaff to do some repair work and watering of the pitch for Wednesday's 40-over game that was scheduled to start early at 7.30 am. It meant a lot depended on the sun, which did not come out blazing as it should at this time, leaving the pitch wet. The match could start only at 1 pm and it was reduced to 17-overs-a-side.

Prior to this, there was another piece of drama. Swastik Chikara, who was part of the IPL 2025 champions Royal Challengers Bangalore squad, had come all the way from Ghaziabad but was denied permission to play the match. The DDCA rule this year stipulates that a player has to play a DDCA League match to feature in its Hot Weather Tournament.

He had played the previous match since there was no objection from the opposition.

Sonnet, who objected to Chikara's presence on Wednesday, had suffered the same fate earlier in the tournament when Ayush Badoni was denied permission to play as he had not featured in a DDCA League game due to IPL duties.

Eventually, it had no effect as Bhatia and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Singh (36 not out off 25 balls; 3x4s, 2x6s) ran away with the match, reaching 174 with four balls and eight wickets to spare.

Sonnet had scored 171/7 in the allotted 17 overs. That they reached this far was an achievement. Pace bowler Rajinder Bisht ran through the top-order, picking Sanat Sangwan (3), skipper Yash Sehrawat (6), Jitesh Sharma (0) and Aditya Bhandari (0) to leave Sonnet reeling at 34/4 in five overs. It was only Hrithik Shokeen (45 off 28 balls; 3x4s, 4x6s), who was keeping the innings alive. He found some company in Aryan Dalal (25 off 16 balls, 4x4s). Towards the end, it was wicketkeeper Shivam (38 off 18 balls; 1x4, 4x6s) and Naman Tiwari (37 off 17 balls; 4x6s) who took the team to their eventual total.

Tiwari, who had scored 80 off 42 balls in the pre-quarterfinal at St Stephen's against Collage, unleashed an onslaught that realised 44 runs in the last three overs.

The pitch, by late afternoon, had eased and the ball came onto the bat quite nicely. FCI survived an early hiccup, of Rajinder Bisht getting bowled through the defences by pace bowler Anirudh Chaudhary.

But that was the only success for Sonnet for a long time as Bhatia took charge of the innings, hitting shots all around the park. The flick shot was perfect and so were the drives up and over the field. He was particularly severe on left-arm spinner Aditya Bhandari. Sonnet also didn't hold onto a chance and misjudged catches on two other occasions but those chances were powerful hits over the ground.

"When I went in, the idea was to build innings and take the match till the end. I didn't want to leave it to the others," said Bhatia, who began playing cricket at the age of five in Vikaspuri, before moving to Ace Cricket Academy in Subhash Nagar and then eventually to Bal Bhavan to hone his skills further. He attends Bal Bhavan Academy on three days and Ace on the remaining three days.

One great feature of his batting was that the hits were straight and his favourite shot, the flick, fetched him plenty of runs.

"It really feels great to perform in Hot Weather quarters, it is something that people watch and take note of," said Bhatia, who scored 144 for Delhi under-23s against Saurashtra this season and has also represented Delhi under-19 team in the past.

"I try to follow Virat Kohli for his mindset, that is, play till the last ball and take the game until the end because what you can do, you shouldn't leave for others," said the batsman who has scored four tons in DDCA League this season.

Yash Bhatia (left) and Dhruv Singh (right) after the quarterfinal at the Talent Sports Academy 

While he batted with command, Umang Sharma slammed 49 off 25 balls and Dhruv Singh scored 36 not out off 25 balls (3x4s, 2x6s).

The 22-year-old Dhruv, who is coming off a century in the previous DDCA Hot Weather game, said, "The idea was to get 8-10 runs in an over."

Dhruv had also scored runs in the Laxman Dass Memorial Cricket. He began playing cricket at the Dwarka Sports Complex before shifting to West Delhi Cricket Academy, where Virat Kohli learnt the ropes, although he attended a different branch. He now trains alongside Bhatia at Bal Bhavan Cricket Academy, where you can find some of best upcoming talent from Delhi.

"I began playing from Class 6," said Dhruv, who comes from Defence background and idolises KL Rahul for his versatility and as for now looks quite successful in emulating his idol.

Both Bhatia and Dhruv were sent up as veteran Mayank Sidana opted to bat lower order to provide opportunities to the youngsters.

In other quarterfinals, NK Khanna Club defeated Rajnigandha by four wickets, Sporting Club beat Telefunken by five wickets and LB Shastri thrashed Indian Air Force by eight wickets.

Tags : DDCA, Delhi cricket, Yash Bhatia, Hrithik Shokeen, Swastik Chikara, Ayush Badoni