[Watch] Delhi captain Ayush Badoni involved in major altercation with UP's Nitish Rana during SMAT 2024-25 quarter-final clash
Delhi captain Ayush Badoni and Uttar Pradesh's Nitish Rana were involved in a war of words and had to be separated by the umpire during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarter-final clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, December 11. The incident occurred in the first innings after Delhi were put into bat first by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Nitish Rana was midway through the third over of his spell when Ayush Badoni stroked the ball to the leg side for a single. The part-time bowler waited for Badoni to reach the non-striker's end to unleash a verbal barrage.
The batter did to back away and came up with a response, leading to an ugly situation. On-field umpire J Madanagopal had to intervene and restore some calmness to the volatile atmosphere.
Have a look at the incident right here:
Rana, recently roped in by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) during the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), has a strained history with the Delhi team, and the Delhi and District Cricket Association. The left-handed batter represented the state team for 12 years, even taking over from Gautam Gambhir as captain in 2018.
However, he switched to Uttar Pradesh at the end of the 2023-24 campaign and has even spoken out against the poor team atmosphere in the Delhi circuit.
This is not the first time he has been involved in a tussle with a player from Delhi. During the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) the batter was involved in a heated exchange with Mumbai Indians' (MI) spinner Hrithik Shokeen. He copped a 25 percent fine for the outburst at the Wankhede Stadium.
On Wednesday, Rana ended with figures of 1-23 off his three overs, which included the wicket of Priyansh Arya. Ayush Badoni's 23-run cameo and Anuj Rawat's explosive fifty propelled Delhi's score to 193-3 in the first innings of the knockout clash.
Nitish Rana was dismissed by Ayush Badoni in the second innings
Chasing the steep score, Uttar Pradesh were reduced to 38-2 in the sixth over, prompting Rana to step out in the middle. The left-handed batter, however, perished to Ayush Badoni's part-time off-spin after just three deliveries the very next over.
Rana could only contribute two runs to the total as the team looks to remain in the run chase with the well-set Priyam Garg and the finishing duo of Rinku Singh and Sameer Rizvi holding the keys to victory.