The inaugural season of the Delhi Premier League is now at the business end of the competition. In the second semifinal of the tournament, Purani Dilli-6 will take on South Delhi Superstarz. According to Purple Cap-holder Ayush Singh, it is of utmost importance to take down the explosive batting duo of Priyansh Arya and Ayush Badoni if the side is to reach the final.

“There is no different gameplan for the semifinals, we need to fix the mistakes we made against them earlier in the season and try and get Priyansh and Ayush out early, if we get those two wickets then it can be easy for us to win the match,” DPL Purple Cap holder Ayush Singh.

Ayush Badoni (165 runs off 55 balls) and Priyansh Arya (120 runs off 50 balls) put the world on notice when they stitched up a 286-run partnership for the third wicket against the North Delhi Strikerz to take the side’s score to 308. All eyes will be on the duo in the knockout stages.

Purani Dilli-6 started the season with Lalit Yadav as their captain but gave the role to 20-year-old Arpit Rana to reduce the load off their most experienced player. Arpit went on to describe how he reacted to the news and how the DPL has treated him thus far.

“I felt happy when I was made captain, it was a huge opportunity and the only thing that was on my mind was that I need to take the team forward with me. It has been a great platform for youngsters to showcase their talent,” Purani-Dilli-6 captain Arpit Rana said to IANS.

“The experience has been great, the platform that has been created by the Delhi and District Cricket Association is amazing for those players who were not well known. Cricket gives you a new chance every day, the semifinal will be our first match with them as whatever has happened in the league has already happened so now we focus on the do-or-die match,” said Prince Yadav to IANS.

As the inaugural season of the Delhi Premier League comes to a close, Purani Dilli-6 owner Aakash Nangia took the time to speak out on how great the season has been for the side so far and how the DPL can lead to IPL owners finding themselves with a larger pool of players to select from.

“The DPL can act like a feeder for the tournament. Unless you don’t see players perform under pressure on the big stages, it gets hard to judge them. If the state leagues get limelight then the IPL owners will have a larger pool to select from,” Aakash told IANS.