Badoni was drafted in, though many felt Riyan Parag or Rinku Singh were good options too. Ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand, Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spoke about the inclusion of Delhi youngster Ayush Badoni in the squad, saying that he has performed really well for India A in the opportunities he has received and also in the Indian Premier League (IPL), making him a good candidate to fill the shoes of all-rounder Washington Sundar with his useful right-arm off-breaks, thus serving as a like-for-like replacement for the Tamil Nadu star.
Speaking during the presser, Kotak said: “He has been playing, he has been performing, he has played some India A one-day matches and he has performed. Of course, it is the selectors who pick the team, but for any common man, when Washington is out, you cannot normally go with only five bowlers. For example, in the last game, if we had only five bowlers and Washington got injured in the fourth or fifth over, then who would have bowled those overs? So every team would like to have a sixth bowling option. Sometimes, if it is an all-rounder like Washington, then it’s an equally good bowler; sometimes it might be more of a batter who can bowl.”
“If required, somebody should be able to bowl four or five overs, or even three or four overs, whatever is needed. He has scored a couple of fifties for India A and can bowl. He has performed well in the IPL and white-ball cricket, so good luck to him,” he added.
In 27 List A appearances so far, Badoni has made 693 runs at an average of 36.47, with a strike rate of over 93, including a century and five fifties, with a best score of 100. He has also taken 18 wickets at an average of 29.72 and an economy rate of 4.54, with best figures of 3/29.
During the South Africa A tour to India last year, Badoni registered a half-century – a knock of 66 in the second unofficial ODI – and bowled spells of 0/15 (four overs) and 0/43 (seven overs) in the two matches he played.
Also, in Australia A’s tour to India last year, he took three wickets in two matches at an average of 16.33 and scored 21 in a solitary innings.
In 56 IPL matches and 46 innings for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as a middle-order batter, he has made 963 runs at an average of 26.75, with a strike rate of 138.56, including six fifties and a best score of 74.