A slog sweep for a six to the best T20 spinner in the world, Rashid Khan. A pull shot maximum to Lockie Ferguson, one of the fastest fast bowlers in the world. That’s how the 22-year-old Ayush Badoni stamped his name in the minds of the fans on his IPL debut!
Badoni was bought by Lucknow Super Giants in February’s auction for 20 lakhs; it is believed that Gautam Gambhir, the team mentor, was keen to rope in Badoni, and would have been surprised with no interest from other franchises. Gambhir and LSG were happy to have the youngster and gave him an opportunity in the franchise’s first match against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede.
Ayush Badoni came in to bat at the score of 29-4, when the Titans seamers were seething fire with the new ball in the powerplay. After that, though, Badoni along with Deepak Hooda resurrected LSG’s innings with a partnership of 87 off 68 balls which saw Hooda score a fifty followed by a half-century from Badoni with a stunning six off Ferguson.
Now that Ayush Badoni is on everyone’s lips, we bring you his story from not getting a game for three years to being a hero for LSG on his IPL debut:
Ayush Badoni is from Delhi’s famous Sonnet Cricket Club that was founded by Late Tarak Sinha, the legendary coach. The club has produced some of India’ss top domestic and international cricketers, such as Manoj Prabhakar, Aakash Chopra, Anjum Chopra, Ashish Nehra, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, etc. And Badoni will be hoping to attain success as much as those players did.
The credit for Badoni’s selection to LSG must go to Gautam Gambhir, for the youngster has played in no first-class match, and in only 5 domestic T20 matches so far for Delhi in which he got to bat in only one match, wherein he scored 8 runs. So clearly, Badoni’s purchase at the auction was based on the scouting and the talent Gambhir had seen in the right-hander.
Ayush Badoni was part of the 2018 Asia Cup-winning under-19 team; he hammered 52* off just 28 balls in the final against Sri Lanka under-19, and was amongst India’s leading run-scorers in that tournament, helping India win the title.
However, despite knowing his talent and potential, for some reason, Badoni was not selected for Delhi’s domestic side for three years.
Then, finally, when he got his chance in Delhi’s eleven for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, Badoni was shifted so much down the order that he didn’t get to bat in 4 of his 5 matches, and scored 8 runs in his last game when he was asked to open. That was his last game for Delhi and was selected in the eleven in the recent domestic season.
Ayush Badoni can also chip in with handy part-time off-spin bowling.
Now that he has made a statement with his heroics on his IPL debut, he will get more chances in the domestic side to further his career.
