New Delhi. South Delhi Superstars captain Ayush Badoni, who hit a record 19 sixes against North Delhi Strikers, believes that his superb timing in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) match helped him to play a record-breaking innings of 165 runs in 55 balls. On the basis of the 24-year-old right-handed player’s explosive innings, South Delhi Superstars won the match played on Saturday by 112 runs and booked a ticket to the semi-finals. During this, Badoni made a new record in T20 cricket by sharing 286 runs for the second wicket with opener Priyansh Arya (120).
Badoni, who plays for Lucknow Supergiants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), hit 19 sixes, which is a new record in T20 cricket. Earlier, the record for hitting the most sixes in an innings of a T20 match was jointly held by West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan. Both batsmen had hit 18 sixes equally.
Badoni told ‘PTI-Video’, “I was just focusing on hitting the ball well, I never thought that I would hit 19 sixes in an innings. I just focus on the timing of the ball and do not try to hit the ball hard.” After this innings, many franchise teams will bid for Badoni in the upcoming mega auction of IPL.
The young batsman said, “I am not thinking about the (IPL) mega auction right now. As a captain, my focus is currently on winning the DPL.” He said, “Playing in the IPL has made my job much easier as a batsman here (DPL). We face world-class bowlers there, and then coming here and playing becomes relatively easier.” Lucknow Supergiants assistant coach Jonty Rhodes has compared Badoni to former South African aggressive opener Herschelle Gibbs. When asked about this, Badoni said, “Jonty and I have a very good relationship. I want to thank him for being praised in this way and just want to say that I will meet Jonty soon.”