“Plan was not to take risks against Bravo” - Ayush Badoni reflects on LSG’s win over CSK in IPL 2022

Young Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter Ayush Badoni revealed that his team had planned not to take too many risks against Dwayne Bravo during their chase of 211 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The ploy worked to perfection as LSG attacked the other bowlers and chased down the target successfully. Except Bravo and Dwaine Pretorius, all the other CSK bowlers proved expensive.

Reflecting on LSG's six-wicket win at a virtual press conference, Badoni shed light on how they planned the chase. Responding to a query from Sportskeeda, the 22-year-old said:

“The plan was not to take risks against Bravo. But once only two overs were left, we had to take risks because I guess we needed 28 runs (34). So we went all out.”

With 34 needed off 12 balls, Evin Lewis (55* off 23) and Ayush Badoni (19* off 9) combined to hammer CSK pacer Shivam Dube for 25 runs in the penultimate over. Lewis hit a six in the last over also as LSG crossed the target with three balls to spare.

Asked if he received any specific message from skipper KL Rahul or mentor Gautam Gambhir before going out to bat, the youngster said that it was only about playing his natural game. He elaborated:

“I know my game, so they just told me to play my natural game. They knew that if I and Evin (Lewis) are successful in hitting the big strokes, then we could win. So, there was no such message. It was just about playing our shots and we executed it well.”

Before his cameo against CSK, Ayush Badoni had impressed in LSG’s first match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) also, contributing 54 in 41 balls.

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“Best thing I have learnt from big players is to be yourself” - Ayush Badoni

In the Lucknow camp, the young batter is getting a chance to interact with big names like Rahul and Quinton de Kock, among others. On the learnings from the senior players in the IPL team, he said:

“The best thing I have learnt from big players is to be yourself. Even if there are big players around, don’t lose your individuality. Be natural and then it doesn’t matter who you are playing with or against.”

Having stunned Chennai, Lucknow will next face the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on April 4, according to the IPL schedule 2022.