India Under-19 star Yash Dhull joins Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma in elite list with huge feat on Ranji Trophy debut
Playing his first Ranji Trophy game, Yash Dhull has joined the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma in an elite list.
Less than a month after leading India to the Under-19 World Cup win, their captain Yash Dhull has begun his First-Class career in style. Making his Ranji Trophy debut for Delhi, Dhull, 19, recorded a century just after lunch on Day 1 against Tamil Nadu at the ACA Stadium in Baraspara on Thursday.
With this, Dhull has joined a prestigious list of Indian players to have registered a century on Ranji Trophy debut, which comprises legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Amol Mujumdar, Rohit Sharma and several other legends. Dhull stood tall for his team even as wickets tumbled.
Delhi were reduced to 7/2 before Dhull and Nitish stitched a 60-run partnership. M Mohammed broke the partnership but Dhull continue to cream runs. He reached his half-century off just 57 balls and was joined by Jonty Sidhu as both took the innings forward. Tamil Nadu almost prevented Dhull from getting to a century. The batter was on 97 when he was out off a no-ball.
In another interesting stat, with Dhull's century, four of India's last five Under-19 captains had brought up a century on their First-Class debut. Vijay Zol had scored 110 against New Zealand A in 2013, followed by Prithvi Shaw's knock of 120 against Tamil Nadu in 2017. The following year, Priyam Garg had creamed 117 against Goa before Dhull was included in the list. The Delhi batter was eventually out for 113, out LBW by Mohammed.
Dhull's stocks continue to rise. He was in supreme form in the Under-19 World Cup scoring 229 in four matches, including a century against Australia in the crunch semi-final tie. His efforts were recognised in the form of an IPL contract at the mega-auction as Delhi Capitals picked the youngster for ₹50 lakh.
While Dhull impressed with an impressive ton on debut, his Under-19 World Cup teammate Raj Angad Bawa too had quite the start to his Ranji Trophy career. Bawa, 19, picked up a wicket off his first ball in Ranji Trophy when he dismissed Hyderabad's Tanmay Agarwal for 16. While several bowlers have picked up a wicket off the first ball in Ranji Trophy, before Bawa, Rajasthan's Yash Kothari had done so against Andhra in January of 2020.
