After being dropped from the Delhi team, Ayush Badoni’s woes kept mounting as the batter was asked to stay back in the team hotel. This was done on the orders of high-level officials who wanted to punish the IPL star. Badoni was not even included in the 15-man team against Uttarakhand, but that did not stem Delhi’s rot.
The Delhi team was bowled out for 147 by the medium pace bowlers of Uttarakhand in the group D match of the Ranji Trophy at Mohali.
What Happened?
Badoni, who scored 41 runs in the last match, is the the only one in Delhi’s current set-up who is highly rated on the national circuit but had to be dropped to make room for Kshitiz Sharma, who is said to be close with an ex-BCCI official.
“Yes, there was pressure to play Kshitiz and specifically to keep Badoni out of 15, so that he doesn’t even get BCCI’s allotted match fees. Only 15 players are entitled to BCCI match fees. Since he can’t be allowed in PMOA (Players and Match Officials Area), it was thought that it would be better off to keep him in hotel,” news agency PTI quoted a senior DDCA official as saying on conditions of anonymity.
When asked about why wasn’t he even brought to the ground, the official said, “The team managers would have had to arrange for his meals separately as BCCI wouldn’t have paid for it and also during breaks or match, he couldn’t have attended the nets as Punjab CA have their camp on. So it was better to keep him in hotel,” the official, who is close to a DDCA director said.