Mumbai: Lauding Ayush Badoni for his fighting debut fifty in IPL, Lucknow Super Giants Captain KL Rahul likened the Delhi lad to South African great AB de Villiers for his power-packed punches and 360 degree batting display.
"He is baby AB. He has been phenomenal from the first day. For a little boy he packs a punch and plays 360 degrees, so happy for him as he grabbed the opportunity. It was not ideal for him to walk out with us four down but he did well under pressure and hopefully he can continue doing that," Rahul said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Badoni played a stellar role along with Deepak Hooda to lift the team from dire straits as Mohammad Shami's spell had wrecked Lucknow's top batting lineup, reducing them to 29 for 4 in powerplay.
The Delhi lad cracked a magnificent 54 runs off 41 balls. He packed a punch and played 360 degrees just as De Villiers does.
Lavishing praise on Mohhamad Shami, Rahul said, "Sometimes you gotta give it to the quality of the bowler. We all know how good Shami is and if anyone could exploit the pitch that is Shami. I knew he would be dangerous. It is good to see him bowl that well."
Replying to a query, Rahul said it was hard to grip the wet ball in the second innings due to dew factor, but wouldn't take any credit away from Gujarat.
"With the way we finished and batted in the second half we gave ourselves a chance. It gets really difficult with the dew to grip the ball but I don't want to give that as an excuse. We have to go back and practice bowling with the wet ball. We executed most of our plans but with a wet ball it skids on nicely. Good win for them and good learning for us," he said.
On the overall match, Rahul said it was a phenomenal game.
"Starting off like that with the bat was not ideal but the way we recovered was phenomenal. It gives us so much confidence when the batsmen in the middle and lower order can do the job," he said. (UNI)
(Photo Source: Instagram/Ayush Badoni)
