XtraTime Web Desk: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s young batsman Priyam Garg was unfazed when Kane Williamson ran himself out during the IPL 2020 match against Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Stadium. The Kiwi great was short of his crease after a terrible mix up with Garg, as SRH were in serious trouble on 69/4 after 11 overs. While several people felt that the youngster could have sacrificed himself for the best batsman of the team, Garg had other ideas. After the initial hiccup where the 19 year old took 7 balls to get in, the world witnessed a brilliant innings from Priyam Garg. He went on to score his maiden IPL fifty at a strike-rate of close to 200, and eventually turned out to be the difference between the two sides as Sunrisers Hyderabad edged the Super Kings by 7 runs. Together with another young gun Abhishek Sharma, the duo added 77 runs in 7 overs to change the complexion of the match.
It has been an inspiring struggle for the 19 year old cricketer from Meerut. Hailing from a humble background, Priyam’s father maintained the family by selling milk, driving school van, loading goods. Despite noticing the talent in his son, Priyam’s dad could not afford to buy a television for his son to watch a cricket match. Young Priyam had to skip his studies to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat at the nearby ‘paanwala’ shop. Priyam was drafted into a decent academy despite the struggles by his father. He was soon practicing against Bhuvneshwar Kumar at Diamond Park.
Priyam’s run-scoring spree at the age level cricket brought him into the reckoning of the Indian U-19 team in 2018. He also came very close to making it to the World Cup squad but unfortunately, a poor run before the mega event diminished his hopes. But that didn’t deter the youngster, who went back to his routine of scoring runs and got picked for the Ranji Trophy. He made heads roll by plundering a century on debut against Goa and since then, he hasn’t looked back. He was named the captain of the India U19 team which lost to Bangladesh in the U19 World Cup final at the start of the year. Life changed for Priyam Garg and his family when he landed an IPL contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping INR 1.9 crore.
Priyam Garg surely has justified that huge price tag, playing only in his fourth match of the cash rich league.