New Delhi, Jan 12 (IANS) Ayush Badoni’s coach, Sarandeep Singh, said that the all-rounder had received a much-awaited India call-up for the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand, and revealed that the 26-year-old is ready to play international cricket ‘right away’ given his top form across all departments.

Badoni received his maiden ODI call-up on Monday, named as a replacement for Washington Sundar after the latter was ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing three-game series against the BlackCaps upon sustaining a strain to his left lower rib area.

Badoni had been practising at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on Monday morning for Delhi’s upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy match when he learned about the development and left his state team to join the national squad in Rajkot ahead of the second ODI on Wednesday.

While Badoni will miss the crucial quarterfinal fixture against Vidarbha, scheduled for Tuesday, his coach was elated that the all-rounder had finally received his due by earning an ODI call.

“The practice was announced this morning, and we were practising at CoE in Bengaluru for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Tomorrow we have a quarter-final, but he got a call for the Indian team. We are very, very happy for him because he deserved this call. And he has been performing for the last two years. Especially with the bat, and we say that mostly with the ball as well. He has improved his bowling a lot. So, he will be called an all-rounder going in place of Washington Sundar, who is injured,” Sarandeep told IANS.

Calling Badoni the perfect candidate to replace Sundar, Sarandeep added, “We are very happy. He is a good lad. He is a strong contender. Even he knows, and we feel that, somehow, if somebody got injured, he would definitely get the call. And now, it’s happening.”

Badoni’s coach also revealed that the Delhi cricketer had been waiting for quite some time to earn a call from the selectors, stating that his consistent form in domestic cricket helped him finally land the deal.

“He had been waiting for the last 1.5 to 2 years. He is performing really well. Actually, this season, if we look back, in the last season, when I gave him the opportunity to become Delhi’s captain, he scored a double hundred against Jharkhand. That was in the Ranji Trophy. Then he did well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the first match of the season, the Duleep Trophy game, he scored a double hundred. So, that performance over the last 1.5 years has had our selectors looking at him all the time.

“This time, he will get the opportunity to play the ODIs. Because he is in tremendous form. He is batting well. He is bowling really well. He is a good all-rounder. If you are looking for an all-rounder to play the game in place of Washington Sundar, Ayush Badoni is ready to play international cricket right away. He is ready to perform over there,” he added.

India took a 1-0 lead in the series after winning the first ODI in Vadodara on Sunday. The two teams will now face off at Rajkot’s Niranjan Shah Stadium on Wednesday before action shifts to Indore’s Holkar Stadium on January 18 for the series finale.

–IANS

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