A scintillating, unbeaten 66-run knock off 31 deliveries by Ashutosh Sharma led Delhi Capitals to a stunning one-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in Match 4 of the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League on Monday, March 24.
After the match, Ashutosh credited 20-year-old debutant IPL spin-bowling all-rounder, Vipraj Nigam, for playing an assertive innings. Before departing, he made a heartfelt mention to his “mentor” and former skipper while at Punjab Kings, Shikhar Dhawan.
“Took the lessons from last year. Missed out on finishing the game on a couple of occasions in the previous season. The whole year I focused and visualised about it. Had the belief that if I play till the last over, anything can happen. Well played to Vipraj. I asked him to keep hitting. He was very calm under pressure. Want to dedicate this award to my mentor Shikhar paaji,” stated Ashutosh during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Ashutosh combined with Vipraj to forge a match-altering 55-run stand off 22 deliveries for the seventh wicket. Vipraj played a scorching knock of 39 off 15 balls on IPL debut. He even scalped his maiden wicket earlier in the evening.
As for his acknowledgement of Dhawan, it could be drawn back to their shared time at Punjab Kings in the previous edition of the marquee T20 tournament. Dhawan played an instrumental role in backing Ashutosh to play for PBKS. It was due to his eventual finishing abilities that DC acquired the batting all-rounder for INR 3.8 crore during the mega auction in Jeddah.
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DC’s one-wicket win was only the fifth victory by that margin in an non-rain-affected IPL game. Axar Patel got off to a winning start in IPL 2025. DC’s next fixture is against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue on Sunday, March 30. The clash against SRH will be DC’s first afternoon game of the season.
