Sanat Sangwan, the Delhi opener, comes from the fabled Sonnet Cricket Club, which was once a pipeline of talent to the Indian team.
Sangwan's old-school virtues of playing copybook cricket were learnt there under the late Tarak Sinha - the institution's renowned founder. This week, he will have an opportunity to impress with these very basic tenets at the Duleep Trophy, where he's part of the North Zone squad.
Sangwan finished the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season as the third-highest run-scorer. His 828 runs came at an average of 69, with three centuries and as many half-centuries. His place, in many ways, is a reward for the consistency he exhibited, helping him stand out in an otherwise disappointing season for Delhi.
"In my debut Ranji season [2024-25], I was losing my concentration after getting off to starts," Sangwan told Cricinfo. "I was becoming satisfied after scoring those runs. So, before the second season, I decided that I would not lose my focus so that I could play long innings."
Sangwan worked on the mental aspects of the game, making meditation a practice. On the skill aspects, he worked extensively on his back foot game under former India wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya's guidance.
"During the off-season after the Ranji Trophy, I started practicing with the white ball for the DPL," he said. "However, I also knew that I could be selected for the Duleep Trophy, so I did not stop practicing with the red ball and continued to work on my game. The main difference between the three formats is the mindset. If your basics are strong from a skills point of view, you can easily switch between all three formats."
Sangwan began playing as a 10-year-old at the Aravali Cricket Academy in Delhi's Vasant Kunj area. When he began showing the hunger to play, his father, a hockey player employed with the General Sales Tax (GST) department, enrolled him at Sinha's Sonnet Club.
It was also here that he got to watch a young Rishabh Pant regularly win games for the club. "At that time, Rishabh bhaiya was playing under-16 cricket, and I had made it into Delhi's under-14 team," Sangwan remembered. "He was a fighter from the very beginning. No matter what the match situation was, he would find a way to help our team win. So, I learned that fighting spirit from him."
Sangwan also considers himself fortunate to have shared a partnership with Virat Kohli, his idol, during a Ranji game last year against Railways at the Kotla.
"It was one of the most memorable days of my career," he said. "I knew him for his aggression on the field, so I had a completely different image of him in my mind. But when he met us in the dressing room, he seemed completely different. He was talking to everyone freely, joking around, and he also gave everyone some kind of gift. I received his MRF signed bat, on which he wrote my name and gave me his best wishes.
"I did not get to speak much with him, but I personally learned a lot from his work ethic. He came for practice two days, was always on time for every training session, and gave 100 percent every time. Apart from that, there is one thing he said that I still remember: consistency is very important in this game of cricket. He also said, 'When the pitch is difficult and a batter scores a century or when the pitch is flat and a bowler takes five wickets, that is something to strive for.'
"From that, I learned that it is very important to take challenges in your career. When the conditions are not in your favour, being able to do something special is what matters most for the team."
Like Kohli, Sangwan loves his tattoos and has one on his arm that reads, "Still I rise," inspired by a quote from another of his heroes, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton. "I have watched many of his interviews. I really like his mindset and attitude," Sangwan said. "He is very focused and works a lot on his patience. I got the inspiration of meditation only from him."
Sangwan's clarity and articulation is as impressive as his steadfast belief that his methods will eventually pay dividends, even if he runs the risk of being bracketed as a red-ball player.
"This format teaches you control," he said. "For example, I do not play the cover drive during the first hour of play, and I also stop myself from playing cut and pull shots because the bat moves away from the body. It is all about temperament, and I have worked a lot on this since my under-19 days. For white-ball cricket, you have to make some adjustments and improvise a little, and that is quite easy for me."
For the moment, the 2026-27 season opener in overcast Bengaluru will present s solid test of his red-ball gains. And Sangwan simply wants to enjoy the occasion. The only mantra he wants to carry forward is, "Don't get satisfied easily and believe in God's plans."
This story can also be read on Cricinfo Hindi.