New Delhi: Ayush Badoni will lead Delhi in their second Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match against Himachal Pradesh, beginning at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
Despite being named in India A’s squad for the upcoming four-day game against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru from October 30 to November 2, Badoni will turn out for Delhi before joining the national setup.
“The reporting date for players outside Bengaluru for the first India A match is October 28 — the day the second round of the Ranji Trophy concludes. So Badoni can complete the game and then fly to Bengaluru to join the India A squad,” sources told IANS on Friday.
In Delhi’s season opener against Hyderabad, which ended in a draw, Badoni impressed with both bat and ball — scoring 53 in the first innings and claiming 6 for 73 in 24.2 overs with his off-spin.
Before the Ranji Trophy, the 24-year-old had an excellent run, posting scores of 63, 204* and 40 for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He then made 21 for India A in a four-day match against Australia A in Lucknow, followed by knocks of 50 and 21 and three wickets in two white-ball games in Kanpur.
There had been speculation that India wicketkeeper-batter and Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant might turn out for Delhi in this fixture after recovering from a fractured right foot sustained during the fourth Test against England in July.
However, the plan changed once Pant, who has been undergoing rehabilitation at the CoE since mid-September, was named India A captain for the two red-ball matches against South Africa A.
“It was expected that Pant would confirm his availability for the Ranji game, but the management later decided it would be more beneficial for him to prove his match fitness in India A games at the CoE,” sources added.
Delhi took three points from their drawn encounter with Hyderabad by virtue of a first-innings lead, thanks to double centuries from Sanat Sangwan and debutant Ayush Doseja. The left-handed pair added 319 runs for the fourth wicket, guiding Delhi to 529/5 declared. Sangwan remained unbeaten on 211 off 470 balls, while Doseja struck 209 off 279 in his maiden first-class innings.
Himachal Pradesh, led by Ankush Bains, also began their campaign with a draw, taking three points after securing a first-innings lead over Puducherry. The side posted 305 before bowling out the hosts for 183, with Aryaman Dhaliwal, Mukul Negi, and Mayank Dagar starring with the ball.
Match Details:
📅 When: Saturday, October 25, 9:30 AM IST
📍 Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
📺 Watch: No broadcast; live scores on bcci.tv
Squads:
Delhi: Ayush Badoni (capt), Yash Dhull (vc), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Anuj Rawat (wk), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana
Himachal Pradesh: Ankush Bains (capt & wk), Innesh Mahajan (wk), Ekant Sen, Nikhil Gangta, Akash Vasisht, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Dagar, Arpit Guleria, Aryaman Singh, Divesh Sharma, Ankit Kalsi, Mukul Negi, Pukhraj Mann, Sidhant Purohit, Ravi Thakur, Vipin Sharma
