India coach explains why Ayush Badoni received maiden international call-up ahead of 2nd ODI vs NZ

India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak explained the reason behind Ayush Badoni's unexpected call-up to the team ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand. The latter received his maiden call-up to Team India and was brought in as a replacement to the injured Washington Sundar.

Badoni's inclusion was indeed questionable as though he is mostly known for his batting prowess, his recent performances in the department are anything but impressive. He was only able to score a total of 16 runs in five games for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) and has only managed to record one 50+ score in his last 10 outings.

Badoni's impressive contributions with the ball

However, his contributions with the ball have increased drastically as he took 10 scalps in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and also recorded impressive figures of 3/30 against Railways in the VHT. Badoni is gradually evolving into a fairly decent all-rounder.

Kotak remarked that they needed a player, who couldn't just bat in the middle-order but also bowl 4-5 overs when required. He also nsaid that no team would be willing to go into an ODI with just five bowling options in their playing XI.

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“He’s been playing and performing, and he’s played for India A. Normally, no team would go with five bowlers, if we had an injured Washy and only five bowlers in the last game, who would have completed those overs? So we need to have somebody who can bowl those 4-5 overs, and that’s why he has been selected," Kotak said at the pre-match press-conference.

Badoni's career so far

Badoni is yet to earn his maiden international cap, but may manage to do so in the upcoming match against New Zealand. The 26-year-old has so far played 21 first-class matches, 27 List A games and 96 T20s, scoring well-over 4000 runs. He even has four hundreds under his name in first-class cricket.

Meanwhile, India will be facing New Zealand in the second ODI of the three-match assignment on January 14. The match will take place at the Niranjan Shah stadium in Rajkot. The Men in Blue will go on to seal the series if they come out victorious in the game.