Aryavir Sehwag scored 22 off 14 balls as opener for West Delhi Lions against New Delhi Tigers on August 20, putting on a 41-run opening stand with Krish Yadav. The Lions chased down 196 in a six-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Sportskeeda posted a side-by-side comparison of Aryavir’s cover drives with his father Virender Sehwag’s, captioned “Like father, like son.” The images showed identical weight transfer through the shot, bat face angled down, head still over the front knee.
🔥 Like father, like son!
Aryavir Sehwag is following in the footsteps of Virender Sehwag with some stunning drives in the Delhi Premier League. The next generation is making its mark! 🏏✨#AryavirSehwag #VirenderSehwag #DPL #Sportskeeda pic.twitter.com/ESZzZIuDWZ
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) August 20, 2026
Nitish Rana’s 50 off 23 balls and captain Ayush Doseja’s unbeaten 64 off 33 completed the chase after Aryavir’s dismissal. Manish Sehrawat was the best bowler for the Tigers, finishing with 3/20.
This is Aryavir’s second DPL season, but his first with a new franchise. He played DPL 2025 for Central Delhi Kings, scoring 22 off 16 balls on debut against East Delhi Riders. He hit Navdeep Saini for consecutive boundaries through the off side in that innings. The Kings dropped him for the final against West Delhi Lions, who went on to win the title.
Now 18, Aryavir opens the batting for the defending champions. His younger brother Vedant Sehwag, 15, plays for Central Delhi Kings in DPL 2026.
Before the DPL, Aryavir’s biggest innings came in the 2024-25 Cooch Behar Trophy. He scored 200 not out off 229 balls against Meghalaya, with 34 fours and two sixes. He followed it with 297 off 309 balls in the same tournament, hitting 51 boundaries and three sixes. That 297 was the highest individual score of the season and fell 23 runs short of his father’s Test record of 319.
“Well played @aaryavirsehwag. Missed a Ferrari by 23 runs. But well done, keep the fire alive and may you score many more daddy hundreds and doubles and triples. Khel jaao..”
Virender Sehwag, X post, November 2024
The Ferrari reference traces back to a promise Virender made publicly. He told his sons that if either of them crossed his 319-run mark, even in school cricket, he would gift them a Ferrari.
Virender is the brand ambassador of the DPL. His presence at the tournament is constant. But his public stance on his sons’ cricket careers has always been measured.
“I don’t want to see another Virender Sehwag in them. They can become a Virat Kohli or a Hardik Pandya or a MS Dhoni. But they don’t have to be cricketers.”
Virender Sehwag, Outlook India interview, 2024
The DPL Pathway
The DPL has already proven it can produce IPL-level talent. Priyansh Arya, Digvesh Rathi, and Tejasvi Dahiya all moved from DPL performances to IPL contracts. Rishabh Pant, who plays for Purani Dilli 6, has publicly credited the DDCA and the league for creating a platform that gives young Delhi cricketers visibility they previously lacked.
West Delhi Lions entered this match having lost three consecutive games. This win against the Tigers was a reset. Aryavir’s role as opener in a defending champion squad, alongside experienced names like Nitish Rana and Ayush Doseja, puts him in a position most 18-year-olds in domestic cricket do not get.
Insider Read
The DPL is not the IPL. The bowling here does not include international-class pace or spin on a consistent basis. What it does test is temperament. An 18-year-old opening the batting in a chase of 196, with a crowd and cameras and a surname that guarantees scrutiny, is being tested in ways that Cooch Behar Trophy hundreds never simulate.
The 22 off 14 is a small score. But at this level, what matters more is whether the teenager keeps getting picked, keeps facing the new ball, and starts converting starts into match-defining innings across the tournament. One viral cover drive clip does not make a career. A full DPL season of consistent opening batting, against varied bowling, under pressure, in a team chasing a title defence: that is the real audition.
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