Insight Bureau: The third Indian captain to score a hundred at ICC U19 World Cup, Yash Dhull is the name on every Indian cricket fan’s lips. Dhull’s heroics in the semi-final against Australia gave the player a spot in an elite list featuring Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand.
After leading India to their fifth Under-19 World Cup earlier this month, Yash Dhull began his first class career with a century in each innings of his Ranji Trophy debut. The 19-year-old followed his 113 against Tamil Nadu with an unbeaten 113 on Sunday. He is only the third Indian — after Nari Contractor for Gujarat in 1952/53 and Virag Awate for Maharashtra in 2012/13 — to score a hundred in each innings on his Ranji Trophy debut.
Dhull has also become the sixth batter from Delhi to get centuries in both innings of the Ranji Trophy, joining a club featuring Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Surinder Khanna, Madan Lal, Ajay Sharma, Raman Lamba and Rishabh Pant.
Who is Yash Dhull
The 19-year-old was born in Janakpuri (Delhi) and has led India in different age-group teams, including the Under 16s and Under 19s. It was at the age of 11 that Dhull, the batsman, entered the Bal Bhavan School academy and took the professional approach towards his development as a cricketer.
In September-October 2021, Dhull emerged as the highest run-scorer in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. He scored a total of 302 runs in 5 matches for the Delhi state team, averaging 75.50. In fact, Dhull has also led the India U19 team at the ACC U19 Asia Cup.
“I have set myself a goal that I will play senior India in the next 18 to 24 months. Till now, it has been a dream ride, but hard work will begin now. I will have to score bucketloads of runs to get there. From tomorrow, I will start training for the match against Jharkhand. The thumb rule of cricket is to take one game at a time,” said Dhull, who had scored 229 runs in four innings at an average of 76.33 and strike rate of 85.44 in the U-19 World Cup.
In between, he missed matches against Ireland and Uganda due to Covid-19 infection. After the World Cup triumph, Dhull was included in Delhi’s squad for Ranji Trophy and also bagged an IPL contract with Delhi Capitals worth Rs 50 lakh.