Ayush Badoni became the latest revelation of IPL 2022. He became the first batsman to score a half-century on IPL debut after arriving at number 6 or below. Badoni switched gears after a conservative start to finish on 54 from 41 deliveries.
The 22-year-old walked out to bat with his team in heaps of trouble. Lucknow Super Giants had been reduced to 29/4 with Mohammad Shami bowling a fiery spell in the Powerplay. Badoni showed plenty of nerves and composure to dilute the opposition attack who had the wind in their sails.
When asked about his mindset while walking out to the crease for the first time in the Indian Premier League, the youngster revealed that he did suffer from nervousness initially. However, it was only when he hit his first boundary that he told himself that he belonged there.
“There was a lot of nervousness [before the game]. I couldn’t sleep last night. Settled down after I hit the first boundary and felt like I belong here,” he said during the mid-innings break.
The Lucknow Super Giants batting effort was led by Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni. Initially, both the batters tried to avoid the Lucknow onslaught and played conservatively. However, having found their footing in the match, they started switching gears and taking on the opposition bowlers. Hooda began the charge and following his dismissal, Ayush Badoni continued the momentum.
The debutant eventually fell after scoring 54 runs while trying to hit a big shot to Varun Aaron’s bowling. His knock was laced with four boundaries and three sixes and he had scored runs at a healthy strike rate of 131.71.
Having scored a wonderful and important fifty on his IPL debut, Badoni said, “Wasn’t looking at the score, just batting. Didn’t look at the fifty either. I was just looking to take it deep and take the bowlers on in the death overs. Didn’t realize I’ve got to a fifty until it came up.”
Mohammad Shami was on song with the new ball in the first few overs. He got rid of LSG captain KL Rahul on the very first ball and then picked up another three wickets in the Powerplay. However, the situation got better along with the match. When asked whether it was a good track to bat on, Badoni said, “The ball was cutting a bit in the first six overs but it did flatten out eventually. We think we’ve got a good enough total on the board.”
