Ayush Badoni smashed a heroic double century to help Delhi to a first-innings lead against Jharkhand in their drawn Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

Consequently, Badoni also helped his team earn three points from the match as opposed to the one which Delhi would have been awarded if the match was drawn with them trailing.

Sent in to bat first, Jharkhand rode Kumar Kushagra’s 156 off 188 balls to post 382 on the board in the first innings. Delhi’s response hit an early snag as they found themselves reeling at 98/4 with Sanat Sangwan, Anuj Rawat, Yash Dhull and Himmat Singh back to the pavilion.

With his team in grave trouble, Badoni, who replaced Himmat Singh as captain for his first match as skipper in a Ranji match, stepped up and how! The 24-year-old took the fight to the opposition and stayed unbeaten on 116 to steer Delhi to 285/3 at the end of Day 3’s play.

Badoni picked up right from where he left off on the final day and continued going after the Jharkhand bowlers. With just half an hour left for the scheduled tea break, Badoni hit Manishi for two sixes within a span of four balls to help Delhi get to 388/7 and overhaul Jharkhand’s first innings total.

Delhi taking the first innings lead and not enough time left for an outright result, the two teams shook on a draw.

Badoni was unbeaten on 205 off just 216 balls to register his highest-ever score in first class cricket, bettering his 191 against Hyderabad from last yeat. His innings was punctuated by 16 fours and 10 sixes.

Over the course of Badoni’s rampage, Mayank Gusain (24 off 32), Sumit Mathur (43 off 116) and Shivam Sharma (33* off 73) helped hold up the other end to ensure their captain didn’t run out of partners.

“It is a very good start. When I became captain, I wanted to play a knock that wins the match. That is what I did. There is a bit of pressure that comes with the captaincy, but I enjoy it,” Badoni said after the match.

Badoni, who recently represented India A in the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman, has been one of the standout emerging talents of Indian cricket and was retained by us as an uncapped player heading into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction.

With his latest heroics in the Ranji Trophy, Badoni has further solidified his position as one of the most promising young talents in the country.

Interestingly, the 24-year-old lad has also impressed with the ball in this Ranji season and has scalped nine wickets with his handy off-spin bowling, emerging as Delhi’s highest wicket taker after the five rounds of matches.