Shivam Singh racks up double ton in GG Dutt cricket

Shivam Singh, a 27-year-old hard-hitting batsman, on Monday became the first batsman to score a double century in the 48-year history of Goswami Ganesh Dutt Cricket Tournament.

The right-handed opener lit up the St Stephen’s ground with 15 sixes and 19 fours on way to unbeaten 202 (off 103 balls) as his side Sporting Club coasted to a five-wicket win over Ravi Brothers.

“In such conditions especially in summers, teams want to make use of the powerplay overs and milk as many runs as possible. We tried that and everything fell in place,” said Shivam, who was a member of the Punjab Kings squad this season and returned on Saturday from the camp after the franchise failed to make the IPL playoffs.

“I have been active in Delhi circuit for 13-14 years and have been scoring runs fairly regularly,” said the batsman, who has represented Sonnet, Collage and Rajnigandha in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) league.

Ravi Brothers had set a target of 290 in 40 overs. The total was a bit below the average on the batting-friendly pitch as the Sporting Club bowlers maintained a tight line with even Shivam picking two wickets with his off-spin.

Skipper Ayush Doseja scored 91 off 74 balls but no other batsman clicked.

“The wicket was very flat. The total, I thought, was enough. But we were poor on the field. We allowed them to convert singles into doubles and that allowed Shivam to return to strike. If we had even utilised half-chances, we would have won the match as wickets from the other end,” said the 21-year-old Doseja after the match.

Shivam had gone berserk and riding on the confidence of returning from an IPL squad, kept hitting boundaries. As many as 166 of his 202 came in boundaries.

He hit a lot of shots through the covers. Four of his sixes came through reverse sweep.

Shivam, who idolises Shikhar Dhawan and credits the left-handed India batsman for his development, also hit a few sixes straight down the ground.

“I am grateful to God for these opportunities and the fact that I have been able to encash them,” said the Chhatarpur resident, who hails from a farming family in Meerut