Shunned by Delhi, lapped up by Lucknow, Badoni shows he is here to stay

A product of Sonnet Club, Badoni fights state-level rejection with Gautam Gambhir’s guidance and five-star finishes in IPL.

From slog-sweeping Rashid Khan and pulling Lockie Ferguson for sixes during a knock of 54 on IPL debut to finishing off a run chase with a six in his fourth game, Ayush Badoni hasn’t for once seemed out of place in the turquoise blue of Lucknow Super Giants. On Thursday, he came out to bat in the final over and smashed an unbeaten 10 off just 3 balls to seal a six-wicket win against Delhi Capitals. Entering the fray with five needed off five balls, he left alone a slower bouncer from Shardul Thakur first up before hitting a low full toss through the gap between extra cover and mid-off. Just a single was needed now with three balls remaining, but Badoni doesn’t believe in half-measures. He dispatched a length ball beyond the long-off boundary with an air of insouciance befitting more experienced finishers, not a 22-year-old with a cumulative domestic experience of just five games for Delhi (all T20) playing just his fourth IPL match.

Ayush Badoni of Lucknow Super Giants(IPLt20.com)

Even in those five games for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January 2021, he batted just once and made 8 before being shunned. With each passing innings in the IPL, however, Badoni’s lack of playing opportunities in domestic cricket is becoming a growing indictment of Delhi's cricket administrators.

While Badoni’s facial expressions didn’t give away much on Thursday, the fist pump after each of his hits to the boundary told its own story. Badoni’s tryst with rejection isn’t just limited to the Delhi team after all.

“He had been attending trials for different IPL teams for three years. Before this season too, he attended two trials with Delhi Capitals and made 70 and 75 in quick time. He has been consistently making 50 off 15 or 16 balls in these trials,” said Devendra Sharma, who is one of Badoni’s coaches at the late Tarak Sinha’s Sonnet Club.

A product of the acclaimed academy where Rishabh Pant also learned the game, the middle-order batter has long been earmarked as a promising talent. He made an unbeaten 185 for India U-19s in a youth Test against Sri Lanka in 2018 and also scored a 28-ball 52* in the final of the U-19 Asia Cup that year. That was when the attention of India coach Rahul Dravid, who was in charge of the U-19 team at the time, was drawn towards the diminutive youngster from Delhi.

“When Dravid became India coach, he enquired with people in Delhi about what Ayush is doing and why he is not playing. I got to know and told Ayush about it to motivate him about working even harder,” said Sharma, a former Delhi wicketkeeper.

Considering the well-documented notoriety of the system in Delhi, it would have been so easy for Sharma and Badoni to surrender hope. “I was very concerned about him for the last 2-3 years. At the start of this season, I had gone to speak to the Delhi coach and selectors. I told them to give the boy a proper chance. They said they will see, but they didn’t give him even one chance even though the team was not doing well. They didn’t point out any weaknesses either as to why they were not picking him,” the 44-year-old coach said with a hint of desperation.

Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) secretary Siddharth Sahib Singh conceded that Badoni should have got more opportunities for the senior Delhi team.

"He did play U-25 matches for Delhi this season. When he played U-19s for Delhi a few years back, I was the chairman of the junior selection committee. He performed and went on to play for India U-19s. He is a good prospect and the whole world knows now. If you ask me the reasons (why he hasn't played much), it depends on the selectors. They did not find him in their scheme of things. And it is totally their call. For sure, it will be difficult to ignore him from now on," Singh said.

According to a DDCA official, there was nothing sinister about Badoni’s exclusion from the team. “He played five T20 games last year. Other (established) batters were making runs. So he did not get much of a chance. He was also in the T20 squad this year. The best possible team is chosen. There is no politics. He wouldn’t have been picked in the T20 squad at all if it was about politics,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Amid the disappointments, Sharma went about working on Badoni’s off-side game in an effort to iron out any chinks. “He is a very good player on the on-side. But his front toe used to go across and close his scoring options on the off-side. I have made his front toe come down straighter. It is important to play late rather than commit early. That has helped him a lot. He is a good learner,” Sharma said.

Gambhir's backing

None of the work put in would have counted so soon, of course, if Lucknow Super Giants hadn’t taken an interest. Perhaps, the truckload of runs that Badoni was making in the DDCA league wasn’t going entirely unnoticed. Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir and assistant coach Vijay Dahiya belong to Delhi and perhaps knew that a wrong was being committed.

“Whatever tournaments he was playing in Delhi, he was dominating. Just like Rishabh, Badoni has been a match-winner right from the start,” said Sharma. “So people knew that he is a good player who is not getting opportunities. We are very thankful to Gautam and Vijay that they have given him a chance. I would say the biggest role was Gautam’s in Badoni getting picked since he is the decision-maker at Lucknow. He has told Ayush to play his natural game and that he will get a proper run in the team.”

Gambhir’s backing of players who aren’t getting their due isn’t new. In the past, he has fought against senior DDCA officials to make the case for pacer Navdeep Saini, who was being kept out on the basis that he was an outsider, from Karnal in Haryana.

Saini has gone on to not just play for Delhi but also represent India across all three formats. Sharma hopes Badoni can do the same one day. “I hope that he continues to play well in this IPL. I hope Delhi start playing him after that. I want to see him progress quickly and play for the country.”