Not too long ago, Ayush Badoni was leading India A, and found himself in a favourable position amongst the country’s next crop of international cricketers, looking firmly embedded in the national selection conversation.
A regular in the India A set-up until the tour of Sri Lanka in August, Badoni found himself out of the picture for the home series against Australia and the ongoing tour of New Zealand.
For a cricketer who had been knocking on the door of the senior side, the sudden silence could have been difficult to stomach but sometimes, setbacks can force athletes to look inward.
After the snub, Badoni’s response with the bat in Ranji Trophy has offered a glimpse of that potential. Although his returns against Services — scores of 7 and 17 — were less rewarding, his successive double centuries against Gujarat and Jharkhand on difficult surfaces had put him back in the spotlight.
Vijay Dahiya, who has watched Badoni evolve both as Delhi coach and during their time together at Lucknow Super Giants, believes the 26-year-old has the qualities to go much further. However, to achieve that, he needs to demand more of himself.
“He’s meant for bigger things, but he sells himself very cheap,” Dahiya told reporters at Palam after Delhi’s match against the Services ended in a draw.
A candid conversation before the season appears to have struck a chord. Dahiya had an honest chat with the Delhi captain before the campaign.
“He doesn’t set the standard high enough for himself. That’s what I see in him, and I’ve seen this in a lot of people who have gone on to achieve big things. He’s got all those traits too,” Dahiya said.
“When you’re in an environment where your 100 becomes a daddy hundred, you need people to push you.”
The Delhi coach identified Badoni’s tendency to get drawn into a contest with bowlers as an area that needs more attention. Instead of allowing a couple of good deliveries to unsettle him, the batter needed to show greater patience and respect the opposition’s efforts.
“Sometimes, he gets affected when somebody bowls a couple of good deliveries. He needs to understand that he has to give the bowler respect as well. The bowler is doing his job,” Dahiya said.
“If somebody challenges you and says, ‘I’ll keep you tight,’ you have to respond. It’s almost like a boxer. If somebody punches you once, you punch back twice.”
The message was simple: spend more time at the crease. Dahiya believes Badoni, who has already had a taste of India A and the senior team, needs to understand that scoring runs in red-ball cricket requires him to negotiate difficult periods before looking to dominate.
“I told him that he needs to spend time in the middle. You can only score runs when you’re in the middle,” he said. “That’s where he needs to bite the bullet and say, ‘For the next half an hour, maybe for a session, I’ll stay there. Then I’ll score’.”
Dahiya also pointed to the disappointment of being dropped from India A after having captained the side, suggesting that the setback should serve as motivation rather than a source of frustration.
“It should hurt when you’ve captained India A and then you’re not even being talked about,” he said.
Badoni’s response has been encouraging and the Delhi coach is pleased with his captain’s ability to produce big scores on challenging surfaces, adding that the batter is moving in the right direction.
“On two difficult wickets, he has scored back-to-back hundreds and a double hundred. So he’s on the right path,” he said.
India A team’s next assignment will be against Nepal in December. Whether Badoni returns back into the fringe will depend upon Badoni’s performances in the coming weeks.
As teams head to a break in the Ranji Trophy season with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy beginning on November 14, Badoni will also be tasked with producing these big knocks in the shorter format.