Gujarat Titans' benched batter unleashes carnage in DPL 2026, smashes 8 sixes in 38-ball 92

Benched for two seasons, yet to make his Gujarat Titans (GT) debut, wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat is showcasing his big-hitting skills in the ongoing Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2026. The Purani Dilli 6 captain Rawat smashed a 38-ball 92 in the successful run chase of 166 against Outer Delhi Warriors on August 10 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.

In the run chase, Rawat had to walk out early in the innings as Harsh Tyagi struck twice in the third over to dismiss Dhananjai Singh and Dev Lakra. From 9/2, Aryan Gaur and Rawat revived the run chase. Gaur hit a couple of sixes whereas Rawat hit one off the fourth over bowled by Shivam Sharma. Purani Dilli 6 were 47/2 after powerplay overs.

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In the eighth over, Rawat hit three consecutive sixes and a four off Sammar Kohar. The southpaw reached his fifty from just 17 balls, the fastest of the season. In the 12th over, his batting partner completed his half-century from 33 balls.

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Rawat continued to take the aerial route more but missed his ton. In the 15th over, he missed a chance to score a century. Tyagi dismissed him for a 38-ball 92. Rawat and Gaur shared a 151-run partnership for the third wicket. On the second ball of the 16th over, Lalit Yadav hit a boundary to finish the run chase. Purani Dilli 6 won by seven wickets with 28 balls to spare.

This was Purani Dilli's third win from six games. They are placed second on the points table with a better net run rate (NRR) than West Delhi Lions and Outer Delhi Warriors.

Anuj Rawat’s purple patch

Rawat is currently the second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing competition. From five innings, he has 259 runs at an average of 86.33 and strike rate of 190.44. Rawat has a century and a fifty in the season.

No game for GT

Rawat was retained by GT for Rs 30 lakh. Many experts advocated for a chance to Rawat but he remained on the bench. Ahead of him, Nishant Sindhu got chances ahead of Rawat but he couldn't make them count, scoring just 63 runs from five innings at a strike rate of 126. In the final, he batted ahead of Jos Buttler but scored just 20 runs.

Rawat's IPL career numbers

Rawat had earlier made his debut for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2021 where he got to bat in just one innings and bagged a golden duck. He was at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for three seasons. From 20 innings, he scored 318 runs at a strike rate of 119.10. His only half-century came as an opener, scoring a 47-ball 66, against Mumbai Indians (MI) in a successful run chase.