Ashutosh Sharma’s brilliant, undefeated 66-run performance off 31 deliveries helped the Delhi Capitals defeat the Lucknow Super Giants by one wicket in Match 4 of the 2025 Indian Premier League on Monday, March 24.
Following the game, Ashutosh praised Vipraj Nigam, a 20-year-old IPL spin-bowling all-rounder who was making his debut, for his aggressive batting. He gave a passionate thank you to Shikhar Dhawan, his “mentor” and former captain of Punjab Kings, before leaving.
“I learnt from the previous year. missed a few opportunities to complete the game during the previous season. I concentrated on it and visualised it for the entire year. I thought that anything could happen if I played till the very end of the over. Well done, Vipraj. I urged him to continue striking. Under pressure, he remained remarkably composed. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Ashutosh said, “I want to dedicate this award to my mentor Shikhar paaji.”
Vipraj and Ashutosh Sharma put together a game-changing partnership of 55 runs off 22 deliveries for the seventh wicket.
Vipraj made his IPL debut with a blazing score of 39 off 15 balls. Earlier that night, he even took his first wicket.
Regarding his recognition of Dhawan, it may be related to their mutual experience at Punjab Kings during the last iteration of the prestigious T20 competition. Dhawan was a key contributor to Ashutosh’s decision to play for PBKS. At the Jeddah mega auction, DC paid INR 3.8 crore for the batting all-rounder because of his eventual finishing prowess.
It was only the seventh time that DC has won by that margin in an IPL match that wasn’t impacted by weather. Axar Patel started the 2025 Indian Premier League with a winning record. On Sunday, March 30, DC will play Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same location. DC will play its first afternoon match of the season against SRH.
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