Badoni — a Super Giant in Lucknow’s middle-order

Behind the trio of Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram in the list of Lucknow Super Giants’ highest run-getters in this year’s IPL is a diminutive Indian batter who belongs to Delhi. Someone who honed his skills at the prestigious Sonnet Club in the national capital, and has his family’s roots in Uttarakhand.

Rishabh Pant, of course, fits this description. But in a season where the LSG skipper has been severely below-par with the bat, the man who has taken the mantle of providing heft to LSG’s middle-order is Ayush Badoni.

With 326 runs in 10 innings at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 150.23, the 25-year-old from Delhi is enjoying his best IPL season till date. If he has somewhat slipped under the radar despite his creditable returns, it is perhaps because of the rut of losses that LSG has had to encounter of late. Having suffered defeats in each of its last three games, the franchise faces an uphill battle in its bid to sneak into the playoffs with three matches remaining.

LSG’s previous game against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, where the jagged peaks of the Dhauladhar range provide a beautiful backdrop, was a classic example of Badoni’s brilliance being shrouded by the despair of defeat. By the time he came in to bat at No. 5, the visiting team was teetering at 27 for three in 4.2 overs in a steep chase of 237 with its three in-form overseas batters all back in the dugout.

The sense of doom and gloom escalated on the back of Pant and David Miller falling for 18 and 11, respectively, inside the first ten overs. At 73 for five, with the Super Giants needing another 164 runs from 61 balls at a required rate north of 16 runs per over, a victory for PBKS had become a foregone conclusion.

Ayush Badoni.
| Photo Credit:
SANDEEP SAXENA

But Badoni wasn’t willing to resign himself to the outcome. He stitched together a fighting stand of 81 runs off just 41 balls with Abdul Samad for the sixth wicket, and went on to make a career-best score of 74 off 40 balls. It was only in the final over that Badoni departed after miscuing a reverse hit off a low full toss by Yuzvendra Chahal to Arshdeep Singh at short third. By then, Badoni had more than done his bit in helping LSG reach 199 for seven and bridging the margin of defeat to 37 runs. If the battle for the playoffs boils down to net run rate, this may prove to be significant after all.

Packing a punch

With swagger and self-belief complementing his stroke-making ability, Badoni largely conforms to the stereotype of cricketers from Delhi. Despite the dire situation in Dharamsala, then, the right-hander allowed his fearless streak to shine through by unfurling a range of eye-catching shots.

The best of the lot was arguably the first of his five sixes on the night. Azmatullah Omarzai, the Afghan pacer, had done little wrong, landing the ball just short of a good length outside off-stump. In response, Badoni, with his feet rooted to the crease after a minor back-and-across trigger movement, simply stood on top of the bounce and flat-batted it over the long-off fence.

To a similar delivery from the same bowler two overs later, Badoni explored another part of the outfield. With the fine-leg fielder taking a more squarish position than usual, he sensed a relatively low-risk opportunity for a boundary in that area, and yielded the desired result by pulling out the paddle scoop. Against Vijaykumar Vyshak, too, he was able to exploit that region with another of those cheeky scoops.

He peppered the extra-cover boundary just as frequently, with a couple of sumptuous inside-out shots off Vyshak launched into the night sky for maximums. In the end, it only delayed the inevitable, but Badoni had reasons to be pleased with his own output.

“When Samad and I were batting, I was just thinking about a way to make the team win. Whenever LSG is in a tough situation, I like handling the pressure and enjoy playing in those moments,” he said at the post-match press conference.

Inputs from coach Langer

Badoni has come a long way since his maiden IPL season in 2022. Not even a regular for Delhi in domestic cricket back then, it was primarily as a late-overs dasher that he initially made his mark for LSG.

With Gautam Gambhir, then LSG mentor and very much cognizant of Delhi cricket’s haphazard ways, backing Badoni to exhibit his natural game at No. 6, he responded with a 41-ball 54 in his very first outing versus Gujarat Titans. While he also had a few cracks in the top-order across his first three seasons, he was predominantly tasked with optimising the slog overs at No. 6 and 7.

It meant that Badoni never faced more than 200 deliveries in those editions, and his average languished in the 20s. Yet, when the time came for LSG to announce its retention list ahead of the mega auction for 2025, it forked out ₹4 crore to ensure that Badoni continues donning its dark blue jersey. It was an emphatic show of faith in the youngster even as Gambhir, who is known to have unyielding trust in the players he likes, moved on from the franchise after the 2023 campaign.

Badoni seems to enjoy a fruitful relationship with current LSG head coach Justin Langer as well. While interacting with the media after hitting a double century in his first match as Delhi captain in the Ranji Trophy last November, he was forthcoming on the lessons gleaned from attending a training camp with the former Aussie opener in Perth in 2023.

“The wickets in Perth are very different to what we have in India. They were bouncy surfaces. Playing there gave me good exposure. Langer taught me a lot about when to show my aggression and when to control it while batting. He also changed a few things in my batting grip. Those things are helping a lot,” Badoni informed. “Langer has kept things clear. He has generally encouraged me to play my attacking game.”

Badoni’s growth also seems to have been propelled by getting to captain Delhi in the previous domestic season. Handed the reins of the team after the first four matches of the Ranji competition, Badoni immediately stepped up with an unbeaten 205 against Jharkhand, and showed that he can handle the extra responsibility without letting runs from his willow dry up. Even when Pant and Virat Kohli joined the team for one-off appearances in January, they were happy to let Badoni steer the ship as skipper.

Since this year’s IPL began on March 22, the fact that he has had only two single-digit scores in 10 innings points to his greater productivity. He is now clearly an integral member of this batting unit, but if he is to take the next step in his evolution, he will have to start ensuring that more of his contributions count towards victories. For that, a few more runs from the pedigreed lot of Marsh, Markram, Pooran and Pant will certainly help.