LSG prodigy Ayush Badoni was spotted by Rahul Dravid, his talent was ignored by DDCA and he has now been nicknamed 'Baby de Villiers' by KL Rahul.
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For those who saw the prodigal talent Ayush Badoni batting for the first-time in the IPL 2022 fixture between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 28, his quick fire knock of 41-ball 54, laced with four boundaries and three hits over the fence, was enough proof of his batting abilities. But his journey, to the biggest T20 franchise league of the world, has been nothing short of testing.
Former India U-19 head coach and Test great Rahul Dravid had been a revelation for the future stars of the national team as he spotted the talents, groomed them and asked them to be nurtured.
One such talent spotted by Dravid was Badoni. The Test great, then, insisted the chairman of the Cricket Advisory Committee of the DDCA Atul Wassan to take good care of Badoni to help him grow in his career.
And Wassan obliged. He suggested at the DDCA selection meeting in 2020 to have a close look at Badoni but his suggestion was ignored with former India U-19 captain Unmukt Chand being considered ahead of him.
“They ignored my suggestion,” Wassan, the chairman of the Cricket Advisory Committee of the DDCA, recalled. “They, instead, picked Unmukt Chand. I walked out of the meeting. As a CAC chairman, I could interfere but I chose not to, in the selectors’ jurisdiction,” the former India pacer told Cricbuzz.
Wassan did his best to send him later to Mumbai Indians selection trials under former India selector Kiran More. Badoni made it to the list of first-30 players for the four-time champions but failed to make it to the final squad.
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As they say talent never goes wasted so was the case for Badoni who has three shots for everyball and finally got an opportunity to prove his talent for LSG in the IPL 2022.
The good thing about the LSG camp is that their captain KL Rahul and the management has shown immense faith in him. So much so that Rahul has nicknamed him ‘Baby de Villiers’ for his ability to hit the ball 360 degrees around the ground just like South Africa great AB de Villiers.
“He’s baby AB. He has been phenomenal from the first day. For a little boy, he packs a punch and plays 360 degrees, so happy for him as he grabbed the opportunity. It was not ideal for him to walk out with us four down but he did well under pressure and hopefully, he can continue doing that,” Rahul said at the post-match.
