Visakhapatnam, March 29 Debutant all-rounder Vipraj Nigam was one of the stars of the match when Delhi Capitals faced Lucknow Super Giants in their opening match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
With Delhi Capitals set to meet Sunrisers Hyderabad in their second match here on Sunday afternoon, Vipraj is looking forward to playing with India star KL Rahul who has joined the squad after missing the first game to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.
Vipraj Nigam said Rahul's return will strengthen their side. "For starters, KL Rahul has also returned for this match. Our team will have a lot of balance because of him. And you cannot judge a team by one game because all our players are very good. All are experienced, so hopefully there is a good match," said Nigam in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
In their first match, Nigam shared a crucial partnership with Ashutosh Sharma that paved the way for their one-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants. Ashutosh scored 66 not out and Vipraj smashed a 15-ball 39 as they shared a 55-run partnership for the seventh wicket as Delhi Capitals reached 211/9in 20 overs.
Nigam had earlier claimed 1-35 with his leg-break bowling while Mitchell Starc bagged 3-42 and Kuldeep Yadav 2-20 as LSG posted 209/5 in 20 overs.
With the second match looming, Nigam is looking forward to another fruitful outing and said the team is all geared up for the challenge posed by SRH, which had finished runner-up in IPL 2025 and had posted the second-highest score ever in the history of the league in their opening match.
Nigam said having done well in the first match had boosted his confidence and that there was no extra pressure on him. He said the team will keep doing the things that they have done in the practice matches.
"If you do well in your first match, if you manage to finish the game for your team, and help them win, then you feel very confident and hopefully I will keep doing the same things for my team in the future as well," said Nigam.
About batting with Ashutosh, he said having played with him in practice matches before the IPL helped them handle things in the middle.
"We batted a lot together in practice games. We have shared a lot of things together in the nets as well so it was the same as in the practice games. In the match, there was so much pressure. I mean the pressure was exactly the same but our thinking was that 'Yes, whatever we have done in practice matches, in the nets, we will keep doing the same, so hopefully the result will be the same'."
Asked about the plan of their bowling unit which had conceded 200 runs against Lucknow Super Giants, Nigam said they will follow the plans made in the team meetings.
"SRH is a very good team. Their batting line-up is very strong but whatever plan we have made in the team meetings, sessions, practice sessions, regarding bowling, we will follow that," he said.
About his first outing in the IPL, Nigam thanked the team management for showing trust in him.
"For the first game, I am very thankful to the coaching staff and our captain. Because of the way he showed trust in me and the things we were sharing, the way we were talking to each other, so because of that I could contribute though there was a little bit of nervousness. But yes, it happens that after a while you go and do three hours of fielding and bowling, and then the heartbeat slowly comes down. So, it was a very good experience," he said.
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