Young Delhi batter Yash Dhull had an auspicious start to his First-Class career as he slammed a brilliant century against Tamil Nadu in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022 tournament. The India U19 World Cup-winning captain opened the batting with Dhruv Shorey after Tamil Nadu won the toss and chose to bowl.
After losing two early wickets, Dhull added 60 runs with Nitish Rana for the third wicket, who made 25 and fell to M Mohammed. Dhull and Jonty Sidhu got together and took the attack to Tamil Nadu bowlers while steadying the Delhi innings. The duo added more than 100 runs to the partnership.
Dhull then brought up his fifty in just 57 balls and then continued on, finally reaching the magical three-figure mark in 133 balls with 16 fours to his name. He finally fell for 113 runs off 150 balls, including 18 fours.
Talking about his knock with Times of India, Dhull said: “Sirf ball ka color hi to change hua hai, game to wahi khelna hai (Only the color of the ball has changed, the game is the same). It's normal for me. I just wanted to go and express myself. I didn't feel any pressure. I went there with a free mind. The best thing was that I trusted my own style of play.”
"I want to be an all-format player like Virat bhaiya (Virat Kohli). He is a legend of the game. He has dominated all three formats. I also want to be the best in all three formats. He is my inspiration," Dhull further said.
Dhull's knock was applauded by the seniors and coaches from the dressing room.
"It was my debut but I wasn't nervous. I have captained India to a World Cup win and that tournament taught me a lot. The u-19 World Cup taught me how to handle pressure and perform in crunch situations and that's what helped me on my Ranji debut. I didn't let that debut pressure affect me mentally," he said.
"I spoke with my coach Rajesh sir and seniors like Anuj bhaiya (Anuj Rawat) and Rajkumar sir ahead of the Ranji debut and they said it is all about the mindset. Rajesh sir said - 'be calm, go and bat the way you have been batting'. He said - 'you are a World Cup-winning captain and you have already performed at the biggest stage so this will be an easy ride for you'. He asked me not to think about it at all. I went to the middle without thinking that it is my debut and it worked. I was mentally strong," he added.
(Times of India inputs)
