The first ODI match between India and New Zealand was played on 11 January in Vadodara. Washington Sundar got injured while bowling in that match. In his place, 26-year-old Ayush Badoni has been included in the Indian squad for the remaining 2 ODI matches. Ayush Badoni has been selected in Team India for the first time, but due to this decision, head coach Gautam has come under serious criticism.

Gautam Gambhir is being accused of bias. Fans have raised many questions on social media whether Ayush Badoni deserved to be selected in Team India? Actually, the reason for the anger of the fans is the figures of Ayush Badoni, which have not been good in recent times.

Didn’t do anything amazing, still got selected

It takes years for players to make a place in Team India. Despite consistently performing well, many times some talented cricketers are not able to enter the Indian squad. On the other hand, Ayush Badoni’s List A figures are not indicating any amazing performance. So far he has scored 693 runs in 27 List A matches, and his average is 36.47.

Ayush Badoni has got a chance to bat thrice in the last five List A matches. He has scored only 16 runs in these 3 innings. His performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was below average, yet questions are bound to be raised about his selection in Team India.

Gautam Gambhir is showing favoritism

Gautam Gambhir is being heavily criticized on social media. While trolling him, a person wrote that under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, the bias within the Indian team has increased beyond limits. The same person further wrote that Gambhir likes Ayush Badoni very much, that is why despite his poor performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he got selected in Team India. Some people linked the selection of Ayush Badoni with LSG, because both have been part of the Lucknow Super Giants team.

Favoritism in Indian cricket has gone to the next level these days under the leadership of GAUTAM GAMBHIR.

The whole of India knows how much Gautam Gambhir supports Ayush Badoni and now he got India A call up, with garbage level VHT performances.

Who Next? Saini, Nitish?

— Ankit (@CricCrazyAnkit) January 13, 2026

Yes, Ayush Badoni and Gautam Gambhir worked together in the IPL. Gambhir served as mentor for Lucknow Super Giants in 2022 and 2023, where Badoni played and credited him for support during his debut. Gambhir later moved to KKR. pic.twitter.com/mYVVYzt5Jt

— Star (@thestargame888) January 12, 2026

Ayush Badoni has been the blue eyed boy of Gautam Gambhir since his LSG mentor days. I don’t think he deserves a place in the Indian team at the moment. But having said that, good luck to him!

— RP (@rajprem1) January 13, 2026

Also read:

Shikhar Dhawan got engaged, who is his future bride Sophie Shine and how did the love story start?

Who is Ayush Badoni: Washington Sundar is out of the ODI series against New Zealand. He was injured while bowling in the first ODI match played in Vadodara. BCCI has declared Ayush Badoni as his replacement. The second and third ODI matches will be played between India and New Zealand on 14 and 18 January, for which Badoni has now replaced Sundar in the Indian squad. Know here who Ayush Badoni is and why he has been included in Team India’s squad for the first time.

Ayush Badoni was born on December 3, 1999 in Delhi, but he is originally a resident of Uttarakhand. His family comes from Silod, a small village located in Devprayag block. Originally coming from Uttarakhand, his family later shifted to Delhi, hence Ayush’s childhood was spent in Delhi.

Mother is a school teacher, father makes films.

Ayush Badoni has been very fond of cricket since childhood and started practicing professional cricket at the age of 9. He started taking training at Sonet Cricket Academy. In fact, his first coach was his father, Vivek Badoni. Seeing the passion for cricket in his son, Vivek started teaching him the tricks of ball and bat. Vivek Badoni makes documentary films by profession and Ayush’s mother, Vibha Badoni is a school teacher by profession. Father Vivek had made the terrace of the house a net practice area for Ayush. Ayush used to practice net here only.

26-year-old Ayush Badoni plays for Delhi in domestic cricket and plays for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL. Badoni was included in their squad by Lucknow Super Giants in 2022 for Rs 20 lakh. He has been playing for this team since then and he is going to get a huge salary of Rs 4 crore in IPL 2026.

Ayush Badoni’s career till now

Apart from scoring 1,788 runs in his career of 96 T20 matches so far, Ayush Badoni has also taken 17 wickets. In his List A career of 27 matches, he has 693 runs and 18 wickets in his name. So far in first-class cricket, he has played 21 matches and scored 1681 runs and also taken 22 wickets. Ayush has scored 963 runs in his IPL career of 56 matches.

Also read:

BCCI’s reaction to ICC’s suggestion of 2 venues, know the latest updates on Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup controversy.