The injured Washington Sundar will be replaced by the uncapped Ayush Badoni in India’s team for the final two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against New Zealand on Monday.
The 26-year-old Badoni became well-known for his IPL efforts for the Lucknow Super Giants, where he was coached by current India head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Primarily a batter who bowls off-spin, Badoni has captained Delhi and served as Rishabh Pant’s deputy throughout the team’s most recent Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign.
Despite having a 57.96 batting average in first-class cricket, Badoni’s List A results are not particularly noteworthy.
In the current Vijay Hazare Trophy, Badoni has performed better with the ball than the bat, averaging 36.47 in 27 games.
Former India spinner Sarandeep Singh, who is now the head coach of Delhi, told PTI about the effort Badoni has made on his off-spin over the past year or so.
“He bowls at least 30 balls in every practice session after batting in the nets. He realises that he needs to improve his off-spin to make a strong case as an all-rounder who can fit into the Indian team. He has improved as a bowler considerably over the last 12 months. He is getting wickets for us regularly, he is a very smart cricketer and learns quickly. His off-spin turns sharply and he has a good carrom ball and arm ball as well,” PTI quoted Sarandeep as saying.
However, former India all-rounder questioned the selection.
“If Riyan Parag was fit he would have been ideal replacement for Washington Sundar. Congratulations to Ayush Badoni for Team India call up. He had few decent hits for India A. For India A, he scored 66(66) vs South Africa A in November and 21(20) & 50(27) vs Australia A in October,” Pathan posted on X.
In the current Vijay Hazare Trophy, Badoni has only scored 16 runs in three innings while taking four wickets in 22 overs bowled in five games.
