Vipraj Nigam’s 15-ball 39 may have only made the footnotes of Delhi Capitals’ historic run chase against Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam on Monday, but the 20-year-old is already a hero in Barabanki, his hometown in Uttar Pradesh.
“The boy is creating history. No player from our district had made it to the Ranji Trophy. Vipraj has gone ahead and played Ranji and the Indian Premier League (IPL) now,” Sarwar Nawab, Nigam’s coach, tells Sportstar.
Making his IPL debut, the all-rounder combined for a 55-run seventh-wicket partnership with Ashutosh Sharma, who eventually played the headline act with an unbeaten 66 off 31, which carted DC to the record chase of 210 runs from a precarious 113/6.
Vipraj Nigam and Ashutosh Sharma’s partnership changed the course of the IPL 2025 match against LSG.
| Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav
Vipraj Nigam and Ashutosh Sharma’s partnership changed the course of the IPL 2025 match against LSG.
| Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav
Signed by DC for ₹50 lakh at the mega auction, Nigam took giant strides towards securing a place in the starting line-up during the franchise’s intra-squad matches, scoring unbeaten 43 and 54 in the two games. But even then, rubbing shoulders against internationals in the opening match seemed a long shot.
“ Sir, lag toh kisi ko bhi nahi raha tha… Upar waale ki kripa hai aur aap sab ka pyaar hai (Nobody thought he would get a chance. God is kind, and the rest are blessings),” says Vijai, Nigam’s father, when asked if he ever thought his son would get to represent an IPL franchise.
READ: DC vs LSG, IPL 2025: Ashutosh Sharma drags Delhi Capitals past Lucknow Super Giants in last-over thriller
The signs were already there though; during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) last year, Nigam had scored an eight-ball 27 in the company of Rinku Singh against Andhra in the pre-quarterfinal to take his team to a 157-run target.
His reputation, across First Class and T20 cricket, has been built largely on his leg-break exploits. In the Ranji Trophy 2024/25, Nigam took 13 wickets in three games at an average of 31. In SMAT, he took eight wickets in seven games. Even in the UP T20 League, Nigam ended as the third-highest wicket-taker in 2024 with 20 scalps in 11 matches. All of this may have overshadowed his potential with the willow, coach Nawab feels.
“He was a batter first and then developed his spin. He played under-14 as a batter. He played two-down for his club in Lucknow. Even at the U-19 level, he was selected as an opener. But he used to bowl a lot in the nets.
“One day, he bowled in front of an Uttar Pradesh selector who spotted some potential and he asked him to take it up. He picked up wickets consistently and that’s when his journey really took off. He played the CK Nayudu Trophy and last season he made it to the senior team,” Nawab says.
Though his domestic yields paved the way to the IPL much earlier than they do for most cricketers, Nigam’s fame is far from an overnight success story.
Son of a primary school teacher and hailing from a family with no connection to sport, cricket was a ‘risk’ when Nigam took it up at the age of seven.
“I knew nothing about cricket. I asked him if he wanted to play and he said yes. I took him to the coach. Socha ab khelna hai toh ek risk le lete hain, ab khel hee lein (If he really wants to play, then let’s go all in),” Vijai recalls.
Ambition often holds the risk of being run down by the modesty of a small town. To ensure Nigam steered clear of this threat, Nawab made arrangements for him to play his formative cricket in Lucknow, just 20 kilometres from Barabanki.
Once Nigam showed promise with his performances for UP’s U-14 side, he was invited by the UP Timber Cricket Club, run by the UP Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Khaleeq Khan. Outings with UP Timber, which plays in the ‘A’ division in Lucknow, got him to U-19 trials, where he stumbled a few times before eventually breaking in.
“This was during the COVID pandemic. He was not able to get into the U-19 side. So, he wanted to try out from some other state. But Nawab sir somehow convinced him to persist and thankfully he got in in the same year,” Vijai says.
“If you go to bigger cities, you see as many as 5,000 kids appearing for trials. The competition is intense. If you get selected from that big a crowd, that means you’ve got serious talent. Plus, the chance of you getting spotted by the selectors increases,” says Nawab of his insistence to let Nigam play in Lucknow.
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Nigam has faced competition at the senior level now, but the high-stakes, unforgiving competition of the IPL lies in its own realm. More so, when you’re just 20. But Nawab insists the early step-by-step climb in the domestic circuit has been meticulous enough to equip Nigam against the stern tests that await.
“ Bohot jigra hai (He’s gutsy). He never lets the pressure get to him, that’s the special quality in him. Had he been under pressure, do you think he would have given this result (against Lucknow Super Giants)? After five-six wickets were down, the way he batted, he put the team first. It would have been very easy to play it safe in the first match and look after yourself, he still played for the team,” says Nawab.
With KL Rahul set to return to the fold from the second fixture, his place in the eleven may come under threat. But his game-changing innings on Monday will ensure the management thinks twice before taking the call.
”For now, we can only hope. He has the potential, certainly. Rest is up to god,” Nawab says.