Who is Virat Singh: The Youngster Who Went for 1.9 Crore to SRH in the IPL Auctions 2020

Youngster Virat Singh was recently bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the IPL 2020 season. During the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season, Virat made his senior debut for his native Jharkhand.

Singh is primarily a left-handed batsman, who excels when he bats at number three. During his inter-zonal career, he made his debut for East Zone in 2014, in the Deodhar Trophy.

Following excellent form for Jharkhand, he got a big break when he was selected for the 2012–13 BCCI interzonal competition. It wasn’t long before he donned the captain’s cap for Jharkhand in the 2013-14 Cooch Behar Trophy. Later in the season, in March 2014, Virat Singh made his senior debut for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. With him in the squad, Jharkhand stormed to the semifinals, with two half-centuries.

Initially, he struggled in the T20 format, notching up 90 runs in seven innings with a strike rate of 84.90. He retained his spot in Jharkhand’s senior side for the 2014–15 season, at the domestic under-19 level.

The Jharkhand native was one of the key performers during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In 10 matches, Virat Singh amassed a mammoth 343 runs at an average of 57.17. Although Jharkhand lost, he was practically carrying the team with the bat in the Trophy.

Further proving his point is the fact that the next highest scorer had just under half of his tally. Singh also dominated the run-charts for his home team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 335 runs in seven innings at an average of 83.75.

With an ability to hold the innings together while accelerating, Singh was the only bright spark in a team that had collapsed. Even in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he finished with a strike rate above 100. The 21-year old witnessed his star rise rapidly in the Deodhar Trophy. A game-changing 76 while partnering Axar Patel for India C against India B saw to it as well.

Clearly, the Sunrisers Hyderabad saw something in the youngster and pounced on him straightaway. Having decided to get serious about their bid for an IPL title, the Sunrisers elected to snap out as much talent as possible.