"Every parent wants his child to move quickly at the highest level" - Vijay Dhull on son Yash appointed Delhi's captain in Ranji Trophy 

Yash Dhull is set to lead Delhi in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season. His first game as captain will be against Maharashtra starting on Tuesday, December 13, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

In a massive transition to revamp Delhi's position in domestic competitions, the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) recently named Yash as the captain of the red-ball side. Right-handed batter Himmat Singh will be Yash's deputy for the upcoming Ranji season.

The move comes 10 months after Yash led the India U19 side to their fifth ICC U19 World Cup in the West Indies in February.

Speaking in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Vijay Dhull, father of the newly appointed Delhi skipper, emphasized the timings of the opportunities his son has been presented with thus far, saying:

"He has been performing continuously in cricket since his U-14 days. The thing is when a player performs well and gets selected at the very right time, that matters a lot with regards to the opportunity.

"Every parent wants their child to move quickly at the highest level, but the selectors are there to look out for them. Opportunities have been coming his way with time and that's good luck."

Vijay further pointed out how young players have achieved milestones over the years once they are in the frame, adding:

"It is always a great feeling whenever my son achieves a new milestone and we are very happy about this. In cricket, the matter of age is slowly in declining mode. Many players at a young age are achieving big laurels."

"Yash Dhull has his own mindset" - Vijay Dhull

In his first Ranji Trophy season for Delhi in 2022, Yash amassed 479 runs, including three centuries, in six innings at an average of 119.75. He hit back-to-back hundreds with identical scores of 113 on his Ranji Trophy debut against Tamil Nadu.

Yash, 20, will become one of the youngest captains to lead Delhi in the Ranji Trophy. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was the youngest captain to lead Delhi in the 2017 Ranji final against Vidarbha at the age of 20 years and 86 days.

Speaking on how his son is facing every opportunity in his young cricket days and how they will help him shape himself, Vijay said:

"These things will come once in life. Whenever someone gets an opportunity then he has to face it and accordingly they get mature enough. Even if someone else would have been the captain then it wouldn't have changed his mind, he has his own mindset.

"The more he plays, the more he'll eventually build the maturity level and there will be senior players in the team to help him."

Interestingly, Yash is the youngest member of the current 18-member Delhi squad, which includes 105-Test veteran Ishant Sharma and former captain Nitish Rana, who has regularly featured in the IPL. Dhruv Shorey and Lalit Yadav are the other well-known names in the squad.

While mentioning how his son will lead a team that boasts experienced players in the upcoming season, Vijay said:

"See, this is a complete team game and he has played along with them (senior players) in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare (tournaments). So such things (age difference) doesn't matter."

"Those who play cricket have a different mindset and those who see from the outside have a different mindset. If you follow cricket then the senior and upcoming players build a combination and based on that the team grows ahead. This is a normal process everywhere."

Yash was picked up by Delhi Capitals for ₹50 lakh at the 2022 IPL auction shortly after his success at the U19 WC. Even though the youngster didn't feature in a single game for his franchise in IPL 2022, he made sure to learn as much as possible from the dressing room. Vijay said in this regard:

"His mindset was to pick the brains of great players like Ricky Ponting, David Warner, and many other players. Being with them, he learned how to approach the next level of the game, be it your routine or the mindset as a player.

"He learned a lot of things and was happy for the opportunity to interact with these players and it's better for his career."

When asked about the possibility of Yash featuring in IPL 2023 on the back of a successful domestic season, Vijay responded:

"See that all is based on the decision of the team management. We do expect things to happen quickly but you have to understand there are some experienced players sitting there like the coaching staff. They know very well on whom to hand the opportunity and at what point of time."

Yash was part of the India A team that recently toured Bangladesh for two unofficial Tests. He could only manage scores of 20 and 17 in the two games.