Delhi’s Ranji Trophy campaign reached a new low on Friday when Ayush Badoni, the club’s best batsman and current struggling player, was told by high-ranking officials to remain behind in the team hotel.
At the request of senior administrators who wanted to give the “IPL star” a lesson, Delhi’s Ranji Trophy campaign took a new low on Friday when their finest batsman, Ayush Badoni, who is going through a difficult time, was told to remain back in the team hotel. Delhi’s poor batting was not significantly improved by keeping Badoni off the score in a Ranji Trophy group D match in Mohali, as Uttarakhand’s medium-pace bowlers dismissed them for 147. The Delhi batsmen have only failed to score above 200 three times in five completed innings this season; the highest individual score was Vaibhaav Kandpal’s 49 in the most recent game.
Yash Dhull scored 47 on the day, and after stumps, Uttarakhand was 98 for 4, with three wickets from Navdeep Saini.
Beyond statistics, though, Badoni, who scored 41 in the previous game and is arguably the only player in the current Delhi roster who is well regarded on the national circuit, had to be benched to make room for Kshitiz Sharma, who is rumored to be close to a former BCCI office holder.
“Yes, there was pressure to play Kshitiz, especially to prevent Badoni from playing in the final 15 to avoid even receiving the match fees that the BCCI is supposed to pay. The BCCI match fees are only available to 15 players. It was decided that it would be best to keep him in the hotel as he is not permitted in the PMOA (Players and Match Officials Area), a senior DDCA official informed PTI under condition of anonymity.
However, given that he could have observed the proceedings from the adjacent VIP gallery, why wasn’t he even taken to the ground? “During breaks or matches, he couldn’t have visited the nets because Punjab CA was conducting their camp, thus the team managers would have had to make separate arrangements for his meals as BCCI wouldn’t have covered the cost. The official, who is close to a DDCA director, stated that it was therefore preferable to keep him at the hotel.
There is one school of thinking. After two IPL seasons, Badoni has lost his focus; the hotel was meant to be a lesson for him.
“Those who fervently want to see Ayush removed from Delhi cricket would never have had the opportunity to speak up in favor of players like Kshitiz, who don’t belong in the locker room. If Ayush had made a hundred runs, they would never have had the chance.
The senior official, seeming hopeless, remarked, “Even he should take blame for not scoring runs.”
Shouldered arms to an unthreatening Abhay Negi delivery pitched on length, Kshitiz—who many in Delhi see as a respectable club level cricket player—just cut back enough to peg back the off-stump.
But it’s known that DDCA President Rohan Jaitley would take decisive action if things went wrong following the current game.
“Rohan has the right intentions, but it’s time for him to make some difficult decisions. The president would have to step in if Kshitiz failed to score runs in the second inning, the person continued.
The way captain Himmat Singh was dismissed was even more disappointing: Deepak Dhapola, a bowler who can finish a game in about 120 ticks, bowled him over the gate.
Dhull, who was formerly thought to be an India possibility, has been severely exposed due to major mechanical issues with his stance and setup (head and shoulder slipping off-stump).
He exits the game in the same way as Devendra Bora did that day—by getting squared up for deliveries on the channel.
