4 min readMumbaiJan 29, 2026 10:27 PM IST
First published on: Jan 29, 2026 at 06:23 PM IST
Delhi batsman Sanat Sangwan idolises Virat Kohli. It’s evident in his looks. He spots a neatly-trimmed, tapered beard like Kohli. He wears an ear-stud and he walks with a confident demeanour like the former Indian captain, only that he bats left-handed. He also emerges as the team’s crisis man. Against Mumbai, in the final round of the Ranji Trophy group stage, he scored a defiant hundred to help the visitors put on a competitive total on a surface that assists seamer in the first session. His 118 off 218 balls helped Delhi post 221, in reply to which Mumbai have already found themselves in a spot of bother at 13 for 1.
The gritty Sangwan accounted for more than half of the runs in a shoddy batting performance where the next highest score was Pravan Rajvanshi’s 39 and with seven batsmen failing for single-digit scores. Mumbai tested his patience early on, but he survived the tricky phase and batted deep into the day. With Delhi’s score on 11, seamer Tushar Deshpande castled Dhruv Kaushik. With three debutants in the line-up, Delhi could not afford another slip-up. In Vaibhav Kandpal, he found his support act. Kandpal is in his first season—Sangwan in his second—kept Mumbai’s seamers at bay in the first session. They ensured the flow of runs, punishing every loose ball.
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Mumbai began to feel the heat and tried different field placement to distract the Delhi pair. Mumbai captain Siddesh Lad summoned ace spinner Shams Mulani. Just then, some of the players began to wear masks, as dust and debris swirled from a construction site near the MCA-BKC Stadium. It would have been a familiar sight for Delhi’s batsmen, coming as they are from the city where the air is barely breathable. But Mulani found the breakthrough, with Kandpal falling to the leg-side trap.
It was seamer Mohit Awasthi’s turn to run through a batting line-up thin on experience. Awasthi is an underrated seamer, but he extracts seam movement and slippery pace. He grabbed three wickets in the space of Delhi adding six runs. From 146 for 2, they slumped to 152 for 5, with Aryan Rana, captain Ayush Doseja and Sumit Mathur departing without any substantial contribution.
But Sangwan fought on. A neat front foot drive through covers enabled him to reach his third hundred of the season. He sprinted joyfully, removed his helmet and thanked the heavens as he passed another milestone. In wicket-keeper Rajvanshi, he found a sturdy ally too. Sangwan’s patience, though, was wearing thin. Mumbai piled pressure with tight bowling. Sangwan felt the need to hit a few over the top. He stepped out to Mulani and got a decent amount of power into the shot, even though he had slightly mistimed the shot. But Deshpande took a stunning catch to end his resistance. The score was 197 for 6 then and Delhi could add only 24 more runs.
Two overs later, a mix-up and direct hit from wicket-keeper Akash Anand ensured Delhi lost their number eight Rahul Chaudhary. Awasthi then managed to nail Divii Mehra, who poked delivery to the wicket-keeper, and No 11 Money Grewal to complete a memorable five-for. In between, Deshpande removed Rajvanshi, caught behind.
In reply, Delhi managed to eject opener Anand, to set up an intriguing second day between the two powerhouses of Indian cricket.
Brief Score: Day one: Delhi 221 all out (Sanat Sangwan 118, Vaibhav Kandpal 32, Pranav Rajvanshi 39, Mohit Awasthi 5 for 62, Tushar Deshpande 2 for 36, Shams Mulani 2 for 45) vs Mumbai 13 for 1.
FILE: Delhi batter Sanat Sangwan in action during a Ranji Trophy match. (PHOTO: PTI) 
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