He replaced Washington Sundar in India's ODI squad for the New Zealand series.
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has opened up on replacing an injured Washington Sundar with Ayush Badoni ahead of the IND vs NZ 2nd ODI in Rajkot.
The selection of the 26-year-old to replace Washington Sundar had raised plenty of eyebrows, as he was not even on the fringes to make it to the national squad. But a sudden injury to the Tamil Nadu player opened the door for Badoni. Ahead of the second fixture of the three-match 50-over series, Kotak explained the call for roping in the Delhi player.
The batting coach emphasized more flexibility with the bowling options as the key reason behind his inclusion. Notably, Riyan Parag could have been another option to replace the all-rounder in the Men in Blue squad. But the Assam player is currently recovering from a shoulder injury that has also sidelined him from the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.
“He’s been playing and performing and he’s played for India A. Normally, no team would go with five bowlers. If we had an injured Washy and only five bowlers in the last game, who would have completed those overs? So we need to have somebody who can bowl those 4-5 overs and that’s why he has been selected,” he stated in the pre-match press conference.
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The middle-order batter possesses a decent List A record, scoring 693 runs in 22 innings, including a hundred and five fifty-plus scores. Though he has bowled in only seven innings of his 56 Indian Premier League (IPL) matches so far for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the Delhi player uses both of his skills consistently in the domestic tournaments.
Besides notching up 206 runs in seven fixtures of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26, he had also chipped in with six crucial wickets, including a stunning four-wicket haul against Karnataka. Badoni also carried on his bowling brilliance in India’s domestic one-day tournament, the VHT 2025-26.
The spin-bowling all-rounder bagged four scalps in just three innings at a miraculous economy rate of 3.45. This indicates that the management’s move to include Badoni in the setup might prove to be key during Sundar’s absence in the remaining two games against the Black Caps.
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