The youngster has been one of the best performers for LSG
As the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction draws closer, Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) retentions list seems to be taking shape after watching some of their key players perform well in the domestic circuit.
Among them is Delhi youngster Ayush Badoni who has been vital for all the teams he has played. At 25, the youngster has captained Delhi across multiple formats and has been part of the LSG squad since their debut IPL season in 2022.
Last season, LSG had spent INR 4 crore on Badoni in order to retain him for IPL 2025 which proved to be a good choice after the middle-order scored 329 runs from 14 matches, his best IPL return, at a strike rate of 148 and an average of 32.
Despite his crucial contributions, it seemed like LSG could let him go into the IPL 2026 auction as the team underperformed and finished seventh in the table. What was more disappointing was that they finished behind Sunrisers Hyderabad despite performing better than them for the majority of the season.
Badoni recently captained South Delhi Superstarz in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 to the playoffs while scoring 113 runs and claimed four wickets from seven matches.
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The 25-year old was among the stand-out performers for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 with 499 runs from seven innings at an average of 83 and finished as the top run scorer for his side.
For his consistent performances, Badoni was picked for the Duleep Trophy to represent North Zone which is perfectly justified with two excellent innings in the Quarterfinal-1 against East Zone.
In the first innings while batting first, Badoni smashed a quickfire 64 off 60 balls which was studded with seven boundaries as North Zone posted a first innings total of 405 all out.
As North Zone bowler restricted East Zone to 230 all out.
Building on that base, Badoni joined hands with his North Zone skipper Ankit Kumar (198) to add 150 for the third wicket and then added 157 for the fourth wicket with Nishant Sindhu (68) on his way to a brilliant 204 not out which came in quick time of 223 balls. As a result, North Zone shook hands for a draw at a second innings score of 658/4 and a mammoth lead of 822 runs.
