On Monday, March 24, the Delhi Capitals defeated the Lucknow Super Giants by a remarkable one wicket in Match 4 of the 2025 Indian Premier League, thanks to a brilliant, undefeated 66-run knock off 31 deliveries from Ashutosh Sharma.
Vipraj Nigam, a 20-year-old IPL spin-bowling all-rounder who made his debut, was praised by Ashutosh for his aggressive batting following the game. He gave Shikhar Dhawan, his “mentor” and former captain of Punjab Kings, an emotional thank you before leaving.
“I learned from last year’s mistakes. missed a handful of chances to finish the game during the previous season. Throughout the entire year, I concentrated and visualized it. had the conviction that anything could happen if I played till the very end. Congratulations, Vipraj. I urged him to strike more. Under pressed, he was quite composed. “I would like to dedicate this award to my mentor Shikhar paaji,” Ashutosh said during the presentation ceremony held after the game.
For the seventh wicket, Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj put up a game-changing 55-run partnership off 22 deliveries.
On his IPL debut, Vipraj scored a scorching 39 off 15 balls. Even earlier in the evening, he took his first wicket.
It is possible that his recognition of Dhawan stems from their common experience at Punjab Kings during the last iteration of the prestigious T20 competition. Dhawan was crucial in helping to convince Ashutosh to join PBKS. DC paid INR 3.8 crore for the batting all-rounder at the Jeddah super auction because of his eventual finishing prowess.
DC’s triumph by one wicket was just the fifth time in an IPL match that wasn’t impacted by rain. In the IPL 2025, Axar Patel started off on a winning note. At the same location, DC will play Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, March 30. DC’s first afternoon match of the season will be against SRH.