Yash Dhull, Ayush Doseja hit quick fifties as Delhi search for outright win against Himachal Pradesh

Missing out on easy opportunities for runs can be a sure-shot way for young batters to be dismissed from the grander scheme of Indian cricket, given the sheer amount of competition. After doing so on a flat deck in Hyderabad last week, where two of his teammates scored double hundreds, Dhull’s 59-ball 70 on Monday would prove to be a big confidence-booster for both him and his side.

Delhi dominated at the start and close of play, which came about an hour earlier than expected due to bad light, to end the day at 196/4, establishing a healthy 329-run lead with the likelihood holding of an overnight declaration which would see them go for the outright victory after already clinching the first-innings lead.

Himachal’s batters had put up a fight on Day 2 but Delhi was quick to see it off early on Monday, nabbing five wickets in the opening session and eventually dismissing the visitors for a sub-300 total. All signs may have pointed towards a draw, but the fluent and free-scoring 125-run partnership between Dhull and Ayush Doseja, who followed up his double century on first-class debut with two fifties in his second match, tilted things in the home side’s favour.

The duo had been told to be aggressive in search for runs, a game plan that aided their natural playing styles perfectly. Both were battling high fever too, going in and out of the field of play during Delhi’s fielding.

“Our goal was to put them into bat again for a short period before the day ended, but could not because of the light. The plan was always to go for our shots and get a big total quickly,” Doseja told reporters on Monday. “It was a fun innings.”

And the fire was lit by Dhull, who took the opposition on from the get-go. He hit eight boundaries, which included the fine touch play of a cheeky uppercut to a bouncer, and two sixes, which included the positive strokeplay of a swept six above long-on to off-spinner Mukul Negi.

Dhull, natural aggressor

Dhull has always been a natural aggressor, but his illness and recovery had put in question how he would rebound, in terms of both physicality and approach. He put the former to bed after playing each of Delhi’s seven Ranji games last season, averaging a shade under 50. He put the latter to bed with his return to the DPL this year, hitting two centuries and maintaining a tournament strike rate of 167.3.

Fast bowler Navdeep Saini, Dhull’s Delhi teammate who has played two Tests for India, believes that not having an IPL contract cost him a chance to get a look back into the national picture for any format. The same can be said about Dhull, who went unsold for the 2025 edition after managing only four matches in two seasons at Delhi Capitals. That has to be the next step.

His 61-ball 66 in the first innings and another onslaught in the second, then, may be as important for him as it ends up being for Delhi’s chances of a victory on Tuesday. More of this, and more consistently, will be required from the once-prodigal batter.

Brief scores: Delhi 436 & 196/4 in 32 overs (Dhull 70, Doseja 62 not out; Negi 3/57) lead Himachal Pradesh 297 all out in 91.4 overs (Purohit 70, Vashisht 62; Saini 3/52) by 329 runs.