Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma And Harshit Rana Emerge As Top Picks In Delhi Premier League Draft

Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni, Anuj Rawat and Harshit Rana emerged as the key picks of the day at the player draft for the inaugural edition of the Delhi Premier League, held in New Delhi on Friday. Purani Dilli 6 secured the services of Pant and Ishant while the North Delhi Strikers drafted Harshit, and Dhull joined the Central Delhi Kings, as per a press release from DPL. The draft featured 270 cricketers from across Delhi, including India, IPL, National and U19 players.

Purani Dilli 6 gathered a formidable squad built around the explosive gloveman, Pant and the experienced Ishant Sharma. The franchise also roped in the services of all-rounder Lalit Yadav, who returns fresh from a stint with the Delhi Capitals and batting all-rounder Shivam Sharma.

Purani Dilli 6 also bagged the 20-year-old opening batsman and off-spinner, Arpit Rana and the right-arm pacer, Prince Yadav.

The West Delhi Lions' first draft pick was the crafty Mumbai Indians' tweaker Hrithik Shokeen, while the fiery Navdeep Saini was drafted as their next pick. Middle-order batsman, Dev Lakra, bowling allrounder Deepak Punia and off spinner Shivank Vashsisth also featured among the team's first five picks.

The North Delhi Strikers prioritised pace bowling, opting for the lethal fast bowler Harshit Rana as their draft pick. Notably, Rana set the most recent edition of the IPL ablaze, scalping 19 wickets in just 13 matches with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and is currently on his maiden tour with the Indian team.

The Strikers also sought the services of leg spinner Suyash Sharma, who featured in the Kolkata Knight Riders' recent triumph along with medium-pacer Pranshu Vijayran, former India U19 player, Vaibhav Kandpal, and