Vikramjit Singh became only the eighth Netherlands batter to score an ODI hundred when he made 110 against Oman in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers on Monday (July 3) — here’s all you need to know about the left-handed opener.

International career and maiden ODI ton

Vikramjit made his international debut in 2019 at the age of 16 in a T20I at Dublin, walking out to bat at No.3. Appearances in the shortest format have been sporadic, though, with the player only turning out in eight T20Is since then, averaging 9.50 at a strike rate below 87. He showed more promise in the ODI format where he would get starts, making seven 40-plus knocks in 22 innings before his hundred against Oman.

Vikramjit made his ODI debut in March 2022 against New Zealand and notched up his first fifty in his sixth game, where he led the charge with a 55-ball 54 in a run chase of 309 against West Indies. Four matches later, he scored a fighting 65 in a narrow 16-run loss against Pakistan.

He entered the Qualifiers with an average of 28.35 and finally lived up to his potential on Monday, becoming the youngest player from the Netherlands to make a ton in any format. He reached the feat in 102 balls, off a nudge past mid-wicket, helping his side to a mammoth 362-7 in a must-win clash. His innings was laced with 11 fours and two sixes.

Early years

Vikramjit made his Netherlands A debut at the age of 15, four years after he was spotted by then Dutch captain Peter Borren in an Under-12 tournament. Borren has often been seen publicly praising his ward, whom he got enrolled at his VRA Club in Amsterdam.

The youngster also got a sponsorship from the sports goods manufacturing company Beat All Sports (BAS), which made bats for India players Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly.

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Based in Jalandhar in Punjab, Vikramjit’s grandfather shifted base following the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. However, Vikramjit, born in Cheema Khurd in Punjab, only moved to the Netherlands when he was seven. His upbringing in India and his father’s passion for cricket forced him to take up the game.

Vikramjit has also been trained by Amit Uniyal, a former Rajasthan Royals bowler, spending six months in Uniyal’s Gurusagar Cricket Academy in Chandigarh in 2015-16 and 2019-20.

In 2021, after his T20I career had gone kaput, he shifted back to Jalandhar and started training with Taruwar Kohli, a former Under-19 India player, at his academy. He was given a call-up to the T20I team for the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022.

Vikramjit also played against India, the country of his birth, in the tournament last year, a match that has been described by him as the “biggest” of his career. He made one run in the clash.

The breakout moment

The player, who regards Quinton de Kock as his idol, first caught attention in 2019, when he registered a century in the Topklasse, a 50-over domestic competition in the Netherlands at the age of 16 years and 126 days, becoming the youngest-ever centurion in the competition.

That year, he also shone in the Under-19 World Cup Europe Qualifier, making 304 runs in five innings at an average of 60.80.

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World Cup Qualifier 2023Series Editorial