'Everything comes from purposeful practice' - Aniket Verma on his six-hitting

In a Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team full of superstars like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma has emerged as the new star. The 23-year-old batter from Madhya Pradesh (14) has hit more sixes than Head (9), Abhishek (10) and Klaasen so far (10) in IPL 2025.

Aniket seamlessly slotted into SRH's power-packed batting line-up, hooking the second ball he faced this season, from Rajasthan Royals (RR) seamer Tushar Deshpande, for six.

The match against RR was only his second T20, having bagged a duck on debut for Madhya Pradesh in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. While Aniket didn't have the benefit of domestic experience heading into the IPL, he had already lit up the Madhya Pradesh League with his six-hitting. He has now showcased those skills in the biggest T20 league in the world.

"Everything comes from purposeful practice," Aniket told ESPNcricinfo ahead of SRH's game against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday. "That's how I have developed everything. It all depends on your environment, and how you are doing things."

In an innings during the Madhya Pradesh League in 2024, he bashed 123 off just 41 balls at a strike rate of 300, including 13 sixes and eight fours. Overall, Aniket hit the most runs (273) and most sixes (25) in the tournament. It caught the attention of SRH, who called him for trials, where the big-hitter impressed his eventual employers.

"These [state] leagues are benefitting us a lot," Aniket said. "As a result, we realise what we need to do, and don't feel a lot of pressure as well. Also, the seniors in any team have a massive role to play. They support you, back you and direct you about what is to be done, and you need to trust them and know that what they are asking you to do is indeed the right thing.

"My team had started [the Madhya Pradesh League] with two losses. So no matter what, we wanted to win the third match. We got some momentum in that innings, and my senior Harsh Gawli backed me, saying 'you just focus on picking the bowlers [to hit], and go after them'."

After scoring seven off three balls against RR, Aniket smashed five sixes during a cameo of 36 from 13 deliveries against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). All five of those sixes came against the spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Digvesh Rathi.

The breakout performance, though, came in his next innings against Delhi Capitals (DC). He came out to bat when SRH were 25 for 3, which soon became 37 for 4. He counterattacked with 74 off 41 balls, including six sixes, to lift SRH to 163. All of his sixes came off spinners Vipraj Nigam, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.

Aniket even tried to slog Kuldeep over midwicket immediately after lofting him for six over his head. But this time, he was caught on the boundary.

"He has got great wrists," Aniket said of Kuldeep. "I had to focus hard and watch it well while facing him in order to understand what he was trying to bowl. But I remember the six I hit off him: he went shopping for my wicket with the googly, but I hit him straight back!"

No wonder, though, that Aniket's aggressive approach against spin has stood out. So far in the tournament, 38 batters have faced at least 40 balls of spin. Among them, Aniket has cracked the second-most sixes (11), and has the second-highest strike rate (208.69).

Aniket was born in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. But it was in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh that his cricketing journey began. The journey might not have been possible without the sacrifices his chachu - paternal uncle - made so that a teenaged Aniket could pursue cricket, something he "loved playing right from the beginning".

"We were never strong financially," Aniket said. "We shifted to Bhopal, where my uncle was already based for his education. We moved over to stay with him, as we didn't have a house of our own. It's only last year that we bought a small house of our own.

"I remember he bought a [mobile] phone for me when I had to play an Under-15 match. At the time, his salary was Rs 2000 or 3000, and the phone cost Rs 7000. So, he borrowed money from two people, and bought that phone for me."

Aniket repaid his uncle's faith by standing out in the Madhya Pradesh League last year, before taking the big leap with the IPL, where SRH acquired him for INR 30 lakh. He is looking to make the most of his time at SRH, picking the brains of batters like Kishan and Klaasen.

"Whenever we have a chat, I always ask him what should I be doing in certain situations, and how I should pick a bowler. We discuss these things all the time," Aniket said of his conversations with Kishan.

Thus, Aniket readies himself by practicing on the field, and by interacting with his seniors off it. But remind Aniket of facing a world-class bowler like Jasprit Bumrah, and his boyish smile tells you he would have loved to score big runs off the quick. SRH played Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium last week, and Aniket, who managed only two runs off two balls from Bumrah, quickly realised how big a challenge it was to put him away.

"No doubt, at the time I was looking for an opportunity to score off him because my team needed to maximise our total at that stage," he said about his experience of facing Bumrah. "He's a very tough bowler [to face]. He bowled two deliveries at me, and both were yorkers. I couldn't do anything off them!"

Aniket idolises Klaasen and takes inspiration from his ability to swing his bat freely and launch the ball for six. But consider this: Aniket's strike rate of 187.05 this season is higher than his team-mates Klaasen (159.09), Head (168.05) and Kishan (170.37).

Aniket, though, isn't getting carried away. His uncle has kept him humble and grounded by reminding him that he has just started and that he still has a long way to go. But with his power-hitting, who knows how quickly Aniket might further move up the ladder - like he already has from the Madhya Pradesh League to the IPL.