When Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) took on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, things didn’t start off the way everyone expected. Their usual big hitters struggled to find their rhythm, but 23-year-old Aniket Verma came through in a big way. Batting at number six, he wowed everyone by blasting 36 runs off just 13 balls, hitting five sixes without even a single four to his name. His incredible strike rate of nearly 277 was a major boost, helping SRH to finish with a total of 190 runs for 9 wickets on a pitch that wasn’t the most forgiving for batsmen.
Born in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, Aniket has spent most of his cricketing days in Madhya Pradesh. He didn’t start off with stellar domestic stats—he only had one T20 match under his belt for his state team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he unfortunately went out on the very first ball he faced. But it seems that SRH’s scouts did some serious digging because they certainly found something interesting: Aniket was the top run-scorer in the Madhya Pradesh Premier League, which is the local T20 tournament. He smashed a remarkable 273 runs across six games while playing for Bhopal Leopards, which included a jaw-dropping innings where he scored 123 runs off just 41 balls, hitting 13 sixes! Plus, he made a splash at the under-23 level too, hammering 101 runs off 75 balls against Karnataka, with eight sixes in that inning.
Aniket’s journey hasn’t been easy. He lost his mother when he was just three years old, and his uncle, Amit Verma, took him in. There were times when they didn’t even have a proper place to stay in Bhopal, but luckily, his coach Nandjeet stepped in and helped him out during those rough patches, all while he focused on honing his cricket skills at the Ankur Academy. In an interview with Dainik Bhaskar, he mentioned, Yeah, my family situation wasn’t the best. Everything started at the Railway Youth Cricket Club, where Nandjeet Sir taught me the fundamentals. After that, with Jyotiprakash Tyagi Sir’s help at Ankur, my batting improved a lot. Now, I train at Faith Cricket Club.
Aniket also has big dreams when it comes to meeting IPL stars. He expressed a desire to chat with Hardik Pandya about fitness and his powerful hitting style. He’s also keen to learn the rising flick shot from Virat Kohli, the pull shot from Rohit Sharma, and the flick shot from Rishabh Pant. On top of that, he’d love to discuss patience and how to keep a level head with MS Dhoni and pick Jasprit Bumrah’s brain on how he reads batsmen so well. It’s clear that Aniket is not just about cricket; he’s eager to soak in knowledge and soak up the experiences of these seasoned players.
