"There is no explanation" - Fans react to Ayush Badoni's strange innings against CSK in IPL 2023
Ayush Badoni failed to deliver for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday, April 3.
Chasing 218, the right-hander scored 23 off 18 balls at an underwhelming strike rate of 127.78. He was then caught by MS Dhoni off Tushar Deshpande's bowling in the last over.
Badoni, who came in when LSG were 130/5 in 13.2 overs, failed to hit a single boundary during his innings. This came as a surprise after he scored 18 off just seven balls against Delhi Capitals in his previous game. LSG won that game by 50 runs on Saturday, April 1.
Fans questioned Ayush Badoni’s intent with the bat in the death overs against CSK. They were particularly baffled that the batter decided to take singles and doubles despite the ever-increasing required run rate.
One fan tweeted:
"Now don't tell me IPL is not fixed. There is no explanation for that Badoni innings."
Now don't tell me IPL is not fixed
There is no explanation for that Badoni innings
Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:
Badoni running away after increasing the run rate
https://t.co/jbTRU3r9GI
Does anyone plan on asking Badoni about his game play today?
Badoni and Gowtham today https://t.co/O0mKtDMHuW
Ayush Badoni and K Gowtham both ruined the opportunity to become heroes. IPL is known for such nights, but they just could not.
#LSGvCSK
LSG fans after watching Badoni's innings
#CSKvLSG #AyushBadoni #LSG https://t.co/2ccCctt6rO
LSG fans to Ayush badoni : #LSGvCSK https://t.co/A4Gb7AN16D
What happened to Ayush Badoni.
Not even showing intent. Not sure what’s happening …
#ipl2023 #CSKvsLSG @IPL
Ayush Badoni played 18 balls without a single boundary. Sigh.
#CSKvsLSG
Suspicious batting by Badoni
Looked like he was trying to do something illegal https://t.co/vo8NQsqo86
Badoni when rr is requid Badoni when rr not required https://t.co/4p12DPA0T6
Badoni didn't even try to attack in 18th over. At least try and get out. Mark wood would have won the game if came earlier.
Mayers to Badoni in dressing room : https://t.co/zxNRz3RYEI
Gambhir when he meets Ayush Badoni in dressing room https://t.co/9VKX5Xsj7z
Kl has unreal influence on Badoni...God bless indian cricket!!
Badoni's mindset bc is an exact copy of that of dhoni, unnecessarily taking the match deep when can hit the bad balls even now
gambhir to badoni https://t.co/G3cyj8jRMW
@mufaddal_vohra Ayush badoni - today I feel like dhoni
Out hojata kamse kam....Mark wood chakka maar ra pr ye https://t.co/9aE7S6QJcf
KL Rahul gives his reasons why LSG lost to CSK by 12 runs
LSG captain KL Rahul stated that his team didn’t make the most of the small moments, which he believes cost them the game against CSK on Monday.
Speaking on the post-match show, he said:
“We didn’t win because we didn’t capitalize the small moments. We had a good start but couldn’t press on. Not often we’ll find 4-5 guys caught on the boundary ropes. They needed to go over and will go over the next time. We’ll take that in T20 cricket, today the game didn’t go our way, but this is the way we want to keep playing.”
The 30-year-old also pointed out the issues with the bowling unit, which leaked 79 runs in the powerplay overs. He said:
“When you have quality batters in the opposition, they make you pay. Something for us to learn, but the way Rutu and Conway played was brilliant. It does take time to learn what lengths to bowl on a surface, but to go for 70-odd in six overs isn’t ideal.”
LSG will now look to return to winning ways in their next game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday, April 7.