29-07-2025
DPL School Juniors – nurturing Delhi's Gen Next cricket stars
New Delhi: The inaugural edition of the Delhi Premier League - School Juniors, an inter-school cricket tournament organised by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) in partnership with Hindustan Times, came to a successful end at the Netaji Subhash Sports Complex, Jasola Vihar on Sunday. DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma (C), and directors Vikram Kohli (3rd from right), Vikas Katyal (2nd from right) and Shyam Sunder Sharma (3rd from left) hand over the DPL School Juniors cricket tournament champions' cheque to Modern School, Barakhamba (Hindustan Times)
Sixteen of Delhi's top school teams – including Modern School, Delhi Public School-RK Puram, Bal Bharati Public School and St. Marks School – participated in this knockout competition.
DPL School Juniors was conceived as part of DDCA president Rohan Jaitley's visionary pursuit to cultivate cricketing talent at the grassroots level, an initiative that underscores his enduring commitment to youth development and sporting excellence in Delhi.
Modern School, who emerged champions, received a cash prize of ₹1,00,000 that was awarded by DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma. Among the other dignitaries present at the prize distribution ceremony were Shyam Sunder Sharma and Vikas Katyal, both directors of DDCA. DPS finished runners-up and were awarded ₹75,000.
As the success of the DPL School Juniors marks a significant step in DDCA's push to discover and nurture Delhi's next generation of cricket stars, individual brilliance that lit up the tournament received recognition as well.
Grihith Gumber of champions Modern School was named the best bowler for his impressive tally of eight wickets. He received the award from Vikram Kohli, DDCA Malhotra of Laxman Public School was adjudged the best batter, having amassed 193 runs. He received his award from Ashok Sharma. DPS allrounder Mrinayak, who scored 188 runs and took six wickets, was declared the Most Valuable Player and received the award from the DDCA secretary.
Adding to the celebratory atmosphere, representatives from all seven DPL franchises – Aayush Singh (Purani Dilli 6), Ayush Doseja (West Delhi Riders), Keshav Dalal (New Delhi Tigers), Yatish Singh (South Delhi Superstarz), Aarnav Koul (Central Delhi Kings), Harsh Tyagi (Outer Delhi Warriors) and Vikas Dixit (North Delhi Strikers) – joined in by distributing medals to the winners and runners-up.
The second edition of the men's DPL begins on August 2 and the women's tournament is scheduled to start on August 17.
