On Friday (October 17), Lucknow Super Giants’ Ayush Badoni picked up his maiden five-wicket haul during Delhi's match against Hyderabad in the first round of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26.
Ayush Badoni picks career-best first-class figures
Badoni contributed 53 in the first innings, which was dominated by double centurions Sanat Sangwan (211) and Ayush Doseja (209). As a result, Delhi racked up 529-4 before declaring.
Badoni then proved to be his team's standout bowler, securing a maiden five-wicket haul. Bowling off-breaks, he first struck in the 15th over, pinning Rahul Singh lbw for 35. Hyderabad then built a solid stand between Tanmay Agarwal and Anikethreddy, before Badoni broke the partnership by dismissing the latter for 87. In the same over, he trapped India T20I star Tilak Varma lbw for a duck, reducing Hyderabad from 205-1 to 205-3 in the space of two balls. He added another lbw dismissal to his tally, dismissing Kodimela Himateja for 29. His fifth victim was Rohit Rayudu, who he bowled for three. Hyderabad finished the day at 400-7.
Match 16, Hyderabad vs Delhi
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With figures of 5-69 at stumps on day three, Badoni has already recorded his best bowling figures in first-class cricket. His previous best was 4-43 against Chhattisgarh in last season's Ranji Trophy. Notably, he also took another four-wicket haul (4-57) about a month later against Chandigarh, in the same season. His bowling average currently reads 21.6, having entered the match with 17 first-class matches under his belt.
Also read: Ranji Trophy Round 1, Day 3: Patidar hits first double ton, Badoni traps Tilak in maiden five-for
Badoni's stature as an all-rounder grows
Badoni’s maiden five-wicket haul adds to his already stellar start as a batter in first-class cricket. He has now scored 1,444 runs at an average of 62.78, including four hundreds – two of which are double centuries – and five fifties.
He burst onto the scene in the 2022 IPL, making a match-winning 54 off 41 balls to rescue Lucknow Super Giants from 29-4 on his debut against the Gujarat Titans. Badoni was one of LSG's five retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 auction and has so far played 56 matches, scoring 963 runs at an average of 26.75 and a strike rate of 138.56.
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