Fans slam Gautam Gambhir after Ayush Badonis maiden India call-up

New Delhi: Ayush Badoni's inclusion in the Indian cricket team squad for the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand has not gone down well with a particular section of the fans. Badoni was handed his maiden ODI call-up as a replacement for Washington Sundar, who got ruled out of the series due to an injury.

After the decision came on Monday, fans on social media expressed their unhappiness over his inclusion in team, with some even accusing head coach Gautam Gambhir of favouritism. Citing Badoni's underwhelming numbers in List A cricket so far, users said that he is not the right choice for Sundar, who is a proven performer.

Speaking about the underwhelming numbers, Badoni has so far scored 693 runs in List A cricket in 22 innings and claimed 22 wickets. In addition, in three innings of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, the right-handed batter has just managed 16 runs at a poor average of 8, not qualifying to get a chance in India's national squad. In the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League, he just scored 329 runs from 11 matches which further reflects on his poor numbers across different formats and events. 

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Ayush Badoni has worked with head coach Gautam Gambhir during his time in Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In addition, they also hail from the same domestic side in the Ranji Trophy which becomes another excuse for the users for pointing out at the camaraderie between Gambhir and Badoni.

Badoni, who was set to participate in Delhi's Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal match on Tuesday, left his state team to join the national squad in Rajkot ahead of the second match of the three-game series on Wednesday. The Indian player was at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru when he learnt about the development.