At 9, Ekansh is Delhi’s youngest cricket centurion. The hard-hitting left-hander, who hit 124 off 77 balls with 18 fours and 4 sixes in an under-13 tournament, believes it’s his first step forward. “On television, when a batsman scores a hundred, removes his helmet and raises his bat, everyone stands up and applauds. I had always wanted to feel that experience but I would always get out early.

“In this match, I decided to get to my half-century and see how much further I could go. The bowling, to be honest, wasn’t exceptional and I realised this could be my chance because the ground was small, particularly from one side. I am glad I could score a century, it’s a very special feeling, and being your first makes it even more unforgettable,” he says.

Ekansh is proud of his new-found status and loves to flaunt it. “I know I am the youngest to score a century. I was also the youngest to take up cricket coaching when I registered with Sonnet club ( he started at 5),” he says.

Family affair
The interest is understandable. He has grown up watching his dad, former Delhi cricketer and a NCA Level II coach Sanjay Dobal, and elder brother Siddhant leave everyday with kitbags and has been a silent witness to cricketing discussions at dinner. Ekansh is an active participant now, and the sibling ‘rivalry’ is just beginning to surface.

“Siddhant and I compete a lot against each other, compare how we both fared in our respective matches and often discuss the other person’s weaknesses,” he says.

A student of Hope Hall Foundation, Ekansh doesn’t have a school team to show off his talent but admits impressing his friends with his knowledge of the game. “We discuss Yuvraj Singh a lot, he’s our favourite player. I idolise him because he hits amazing shots and I am also a left-hander like him. I try and copy all his shots, first in my room and then in the nets,” he says.

And so the pull and the front-foot punch are Ekansh’s favourite shots; that he plays with tailor-made ‘Yuvi T20 series’ bats is no coincidence either. Ekanksh would have been a complete Yuvraj package but his dadi’s insistence made him into a right-arm off-spinner. “His dadi insisted on using his right hand for everything, and though he used his left arm for bowling early on, he suddenly became more comfortable with the right arm,” explains his father.