NEW DELHI: Ayush Badoni had just wrapped up his practice session on Monday and was heading back to the hotel when a message popped up on his phone. It was the moment he had been waiting for — his maiden India call-up. Keeping his composure, Badoni first showed the message to his Delhi coach and former India cricketer Sarandeep Singh before embracing him in an emotional hug.Badoni was named as a replacement for Washington Sundar in India’s squad for the remaining two ODIs against New Zealand after the all-rounder was ruled out with a rib injury. Washington sustained the injury during the series opener in Vadodara on Sunday.

“He was really happy, and I was very happy for him. He truly deserved it. He has worked extremely hard. Most people know him as a batter who can clear the ropes, hit boundaries at will and play long innings. Ask anyone and he’ll be tagged as a proper batter. But he is also an excellent off-spinner, and he has evolved into one purely through hard work,” Sarandeep told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.“I told him last year that while he is a very good batter, he must bowl at least seven overs after every batting session before going home. He accepted that challenge without any hesitation. Even after long batting sessions, he would pick up the ball and bowl seven overs, sometimes even more. He has put in a lot of work on his off-spin,” the Delhi head coach added.Badoni, who has an impressive first-class batting average of 57.96, averages 36.47 from 27 matches in List A format.Badoni has also shown leadership qualities, having captained Delhi in the past and serving as Rishabh Pant’s deputy during the team’s latest Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign.“I told him that if he wants to become a good all-rounder, focusing on his spin bowling will make a strong case for him as someone who can fit into the Indian team. His off-spin is really good now. It turns sharply, and he has added a couple of variations to his bowling. He bowls the carrom ball and the arm ball as well. He is a very smart cricketer,” Sarandeep said.“He has also been fortunate to share the dressing room with Virat Kohli in the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He, Priyansh Arya and several other young cricketers have learned a lot from a legend like him. That phase played a big role in helping Ayush improve his game,” he added.India’s updated squad for 2nd and 3rd ODIs:Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ayush Badoni

WHO IS AYUSH BADONI?

Born in 1999 in Delhi, 26-year-old Ayush Badoni has been a consistent performer for the Delhi team. He was picked in the IPL 2022 mega auction by Lucknow Super Giants for a base price of Rs 20 lakh. Under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir, Badoni elevated his game, with Gambhir even sending him to bat at No. 6 in the batting order.Following his impressive performances for LSG, the franchise retained him for Rs 4 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Since then, Badoni has remained a key part of the Lucknow Super Giants squad.Overall, he has played 56 IPL matches so far, scoring 963 runs at a strike rate of 138.56. He has also contributed with the ball, taking four wickets.Apart from IPL, Badoni has made significant contributions in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), where he captained South Delhi Superstarz and showcased his all-round abilities.AYUSH BADONI – CAREER STATSBatting and fielding:

Bowling:

NEW DELHI: India’s preparations for the remainder of the ODI series against New Zealand have been disrupted by another injury setback, with Washington Sundar ruled out and young batter Ayush Badoni earning his maiden call-up to the national side.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed on Monday that Sundar sustained an injury during the first ODI at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi, Vadodara. The bowling all-rounder complained of acute discomfort in his left lower rib area while bowling and was forced to leave the field midway through New Zealand’s innings. Although he later returned to bat at No. 8, scoring seven runs in India’s four-wicket win, further assessment has sidelined him for the rest of the series.

In a media advisory, the BCCI stated that Sundar will undergo additional scans, following which the medical team will seek expert opinion. “Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the remaining two matches of the ODI series,” the statement read.India captain Shubman Gill had earlier hinted at the severity of the issue, revealing after the match that Sundar was dealing with a side strain and would be sent for scans. The 26-year-old had bowled just five overs in the opener, conceding 25 runs without taking a wicket.Sundar’s absence has opened the door for Ayush Badoni, who has been named as his replacement by the selection committee. The right-hand batter, who also bowls right-arm off-spin, will join the squad in Rajkot ahead of the second ODI. Badoni’s inclusion marks a significant milestone in his career, rewarding his consistent performances on the domestic circuit.Sundar’s injury compounds India’s concerns, coming on the heels of Rishabh Pant being ruled out of the series with a side strain sustained during training. Pant was replaced by Dhruv Jurel in the playing XI for the first ODI.

India’s updated squad for 2nd and 3rd ODIs

NEW DELHI: Last week was anything but ordinary in the chaotic realm of elite chess, not because of a single blockbuster match, table slamming, or another jaw-dropping off-the-board spat, but due to the sudden proliferation of “World Championships”. Within days of each other, two major announcements landed on the global chessboard. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!On one side was the Total Chess World Championship Tour, a collaboration between Norway Chess and FIDE, which unveiled the list of 16 players eligible to receive invitations for its 2026 pilot event scheduled for 3–15 October later this year. Almost simultaneously, FIDE, in partnership with Freestyle Chess, launched the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, which splashed water on the burning, long-standing tussle.

The optics are impossible to ignore. Two “world championship” labels with similar promises of global reach and big prize money.For now, the Total Chess World Championship Tour remains officially a work in progress. The 2026 edition has been clearly designated as a pilot, meant to test the concept, format and regulations. The first full-fledged Tour season, culminating in the crowning of an official Total Chess World Champion, is slated for 2027. But even at the announcement stage, comparisons with Freestyle Chess were unavoidable, especially given that Freestyle Chess ran its own Grand Slam last year using a tour-style format.

Jan Henric Buettner, co-founder and CEO of Freestyle Chess, is candid about how deceptively simple such ideas appear from the outside.“When I heard about it, I thought, okay, it’s interesting,” Buettner told TimesofIndia.com from South Africa during an exclusive interaction. “But in the end, it’s much more difficult than it looks from the outset to start a tour. I can really say that from my own experience.”Buettner believes that while the Total Chess Tour announcement made waves, execution is where the real test lies. “Especially when you want to put out prize money in that range, and you want to be on four continents and so on,” he said. “In their public communication, it feels a little bit like a copy and paste of what we have done, from prize funding, going around the world, and so on.”That perception has also spilled onto social media, where players and fans have reacted with a mix of curiosity and confusion.

Buettner referenced Indian grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi’s light-hearted video poking fun at the growing maze of formats and World Championship titles. “It’s so complex,” Buettner said. “There’s a lot of confusion about how it is and so on.”Still, he stops short of dismissing the Total Chess Tour as mere imitation. “In the end, we wish them good luck,” he told this website. “Maybe it even opened FIDE up to say, ‘Okay, we can create more world championship titles.’”Significantly, Buettner also pointed out that, as of now, much about the Total Chess Tour remains undefined. “They’re talking about a pilot tournament, and then maybe they’re going to get a tour together with sponsors and so on. They just announced the players who have qualified, but we still don’t know the location, what exactly they’re doing.”Home advantage, he feels, could make an early difference. But major challenges lie outside those four walls.“Maybe they do it in Norway for the first time, and then it’s their home turf,” Buettner said. “But it’s a totally different thing to organise tournaments on other continents. I can surely tell that from experience: being in the US, in Africa, in Paris. Doing it at home or somewhere else is not the same.”Those words carry weight. TimesofIndia.com can confirm that Freestyle Chess was keen to host a Grand Slam leg in India last year, but the plan fell through due to a lack of interest from Indian sponsors.Yet Buettner is surprisingly open-minded about the future coexistence of formats. “After this new development, it might even be a good thing,” he said. “They can do their tour, and maybe the winner of their tour also has a qualification for the World Championship in Freestyle Chess. Why not? I’m open to anything.”Away from formats and formats wars, Buettner himself has been at the centre of speculation for the last few months. In June last year, TimesofIndia.com reported that he would step down as CEO of Freestyle Chess on July 1, transitioning to an Executive Chairman role while COO Thomas Harsch took over daily operations. That handover, however, did not materialise.“I’m not the person who leaves something that’s not in the right place,” Buettner clarified. “When we planned the transition, we were not anywhere near complete. So my plan now is to do this World Championship and then hand it over to somebody else, so we can present new leadership for season two.”Whether the Total Chess World Championship Tour can escape the copy-cat label, or whether the chess world will ultimately embrace parallel pathways, will only be decided once the clocks are started and the tours actually roll out.

NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer reserved glowing praise for Virat Kohli after the Indian great delivered yet another masterclass in the opening ODI against New Zealand, guiding India to a four-wicket win while rewriting the record books in Vadodara on Sunday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Kohli’s sublime 93 off 91 balls not only anchored India’s successful chase of 301 but also saw him cross two major milestones. The 37-year-old became the fastest batter in history to reach 28,000 international runs, achieving the feat in just 624 innings — 20 fewer than Sachin Tendulkar. In the process, Kohli also overtook Kumar Sangakkara to become the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket, behind only Tendulkar.

“Whatever we talk about his innings, it would be less,” Iyer said in a video shared by the BCCI. “We’ve been seeing it for so many years now. He’s been doing it consistently. The way he rotates the strike, he takes on the bowler — he basically walks the talk.”Iyer, playing his comeback match after recovering from a spleen injury sustained during last year’s Australia tour, played a key supporting role with a fluent 49 off 47 balls. The newly appointed vice-captain added 77 runs with Kohli for the third wicket, steadying India after an early loss.“It was a great start to the series,” Iyer said. “Coming back after a while feels special. I missed being in the dressing room and sharing moments with everyone. I’m just happy to be back.”

Kohli looked set for a record-extending 54th ODI century before New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson had him caught at mid-off. Despite finishing with impressive figures of 4 for 41, Jamieson admitted Kohli’s influence was decisive.“He controlled the tempo through the middle and set the innings up for his team,” Jamieson said. “You don’t really contain the greats — they have their way.”Having shared a dressing room with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Jamieson added: “He’s on a different level. Every time you play against him, you’ve got to be at your absolute best just to compete.”India eventually sealed the chase through late cameos from Harshit Rana and KL Rahul, taking a 1-0 lead in the series — but the night belonged, once again, to Kohli and the admiration he continues to command from teammates and rivals alike.

NEW DELHI: India underlined their reputation as the most formidable chasing side in world cricket after scripting history with a tense four-wicket win over New Zealand in the first ODI on Sunday. By overhauling a target of 301 in Vadodara, Shubman Gill’s side became the first team ever to successfully chase down 300-plus totals on 20 occasions in one-day internationals.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The landmark victory also gave India a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and once again highlighted their depth and composure under pressure. Virat Kohli anchored the chase with a classy 93 off 91 balls, striking eight fours and a six, before falling just short of a deserved century. His knock laid the foundation for yet another memorable pursuit.

India’s chase was set up by a vital 118-run second-wicket stand between Kohli and captain Gill, who made a steady 56 on his return from injury. Kohli then added another crucial partnership with Shreyas Iyer, whose fluent 49 kept the scoreboard moving even as New Zealand searched for breakthroughs.

Teams with the most successful 300+ run chases in ODIs

The chase, however, was far from straightforward. Kohli’s dismissal triggered a wobble as India slipped from 234 for 2 to 242 for 5, with Kyle Jamieson leading New Zealand’s fightback through figures of 4 for 41. With pressure mounting, late contributions from Harshit Rana (29 off 22 balls) and KL Rahul (29 not out off 21) proved decisive. Rahul sealed the win in the penultimate over, smashing two fours and a six to finish the chase with six balls to spare.India’s latest feat further extends their lead atop the list of teams with the most successful 300-plus chases in ODIs. England follow with 15, while Australia have achieved the feat 14 times. Pakistan (12) and New Zealand and Sri Lanka (11 each) trail behind.Kohli was named Player of the Match, earning his 45th such award in ODIs, moving closer to Sanath Jayasuriya’s tally of 48. The former captain also climbed to second place on the list of leading run-scorers in international cricket, underlining his enduring influence in the format.Most PoTM awards in ODIs

Earlier, New Zealand posted 300 for 8 after half-centuries from Devon Conway (56), Henry Nicholls (62) and Daryl Mitchell (84). Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna picked up two wickets apiece.The second ODI will be played in Rajkot on Wednesday, with India riding high on yet another record-breaking chase.

Vijay Hazare Trophy Quarterfinals, Live Score: In-form batters Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal will be keen to continue their stunning run when domestic heavyweights Mumbai and Karnataka clash in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals here on Monday. The second quarterfinal, featuring Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra, will also be played at the Centre of Excellence on the same day.

Karnataka’s only defeat in the group stage came in their final league outing on January 8, but they will back themselves to bring their best against Mumbai in a high-stakes knockout encounter.

Padikkal has been in sublime touch, topping the tournament’s run charts with 640 runs from seven innings, including four centuries and a half-century. If he continues to pile on runs, it will be difficult for the selectors to overlook him as attention gradually shifts towards the 2027 ODI World Cup once the T20 showpiece concludes in a couple of months.

Sarfaraz, too, has been pressing his case by seamlessly carrying his explosive T20 form into the 50-over format. In Mumbai’s surprise defeat to Punjab in their final league match, Sarfaraz struck the fastest fifty by an Indian in men’s List A cricket. Although the result had no bearing on qualification, it served as yet another reminder to the selectors of his exceptional talent in the shorter formats.

In the other quarterfinal, Uttar Pradesh will start as favourites against Saurashtra after finishing the league stage unbeaten — the only team across the four groups to achieve the feat.

However, Uttar Pradesh will be without Dhruv Jurel, who has joined the Indian ODI squad following a side strain suffered by Rishabh Pant. Jurel was in sensational form during the league phase, amassing 558 runs in seven innings and proving virtually unstoppable.

Saurashtra, meanwhile, recovered strongly after losing two of their first three matches, winning their final four games to seal a place in the last eight. Their batters appear to be hitting form at the right time, while pacer Chetan Sakariya has also found good rhythm heading into the knockout clash.

VADODARA: Cricket seems set to bear the full impact of the escalating tensions between India and Bangladesh. TOI has learnt that India’s leading cricket equipment manufacturer SG, which currently sponsors some of Bangladesh’s top cricketers, including captain Litton Das and Mominul Haque, has put its contracts with the duo in a limbo.“Their sponsorship contracts were coming up for renewal. That process has been slowed down’ amidst the current heightened political and cricketing tensions between India and Bangladesh,” a source tracking developments told TOI on Sunday.

“In fact, another leading Indian sports equipment manufacturing company, Sareen Sports Industries (SS) had cancelled the sponsorship contracts of four-five top Bangladesh cricketers last year, when trouble began in Bangladesh. However, things may change if the relations improve between the two countries,” informed another source.The increasing tension between India and Bangladesh is thus set to result in Bangladesh’s cricket industry being hit badly financially.“It’s not just about player contracts not being renewed for now. The political instability and uncertain times in Bangladesh has meant that SG has stopped the distribution of its cricket equipment in Bangladesh since the last six months. In fact, there used to be a lot of sports apparel which used to be manufactured in Bangladesh’s factories and then supplied to SG and other sports equipment manufacturers in India. That supply line too has dried up for the past year or so,” informed the source.In a nutshell, the tensions between the two countries are set to badly hurt Bangladesh’s sports industry, as India’s leading sports manufacturers have stopped sponsoring the country’s players, and halted the distribution of their sports equipment to Bangladesh.The tensions between the neighboring countries flared up when the BCCI asked the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh’s star left-arm pace bowler, Mustafizur Rehman, from their squad, from his contract in IPL-2026 after they bought him in the auction on Nov for Rs 9.20 cr. Reacting strongly to the development, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) raised serious concerns over the security situation in India and requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to move their four matches in the 2026 T20 World Cup from India to Sri Lanka.The BCB have twice formally requested the International Cricket Council to relocate Bangladesh’s fixtures to Sri Lanka for the World Cup. The ICC is yet to decide on their request. Currently, Bangladesh are placed in Group C of the tournament, with fixtures against the West Indies, Italy, and England in Kolkata on February 7, 9, and 14, respectively. Their final group-stage match will be against Nepal in Mumbai on February 17.

NEW DELHI: India took on New Zealand in the first ODI of the three-game series on Sunday at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. While the match itself was important, team selection became the biggest talking point even before the first ball was bowled. Fans quickly noticed that star pacer Arshdeep Singh was missing from India’s playing XI, and this led to a flood of funny memes on social media asking, “Where is Arshdeep Singh?”

Arshdeep Singh’s absence came as a surprise to many fans. The left-arm pacer had played in the final ODI against South Africa last month and was expected to feature again. Instead, Mohammed Siraj made his return to the ODI side after being out since November.As soon as the team was announced, social media platforms were filled with jokes and memes questioning Arshdeep’s omission.At the same time, there was good news for India as Shreyas Iyer made his return to international cricket after nearly two months.Iyer was named in the playing XI after recovering from an injury he suffered during the ODI series against Australia. The injury kept him out of action for a long time.He recently returned to competitive cricket during the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he looked in good touch. His comeback added strength to India’s middle order.India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first. Speaking at the toss, he explained the team’s approach and combination. Gill said, “We want to try different combinations and see how that works. Surface looks good, hope it will be easier to bat with the dew coming in in the second innings. Playing a bit of Vijay Hazare gives players some experience.” He also confirmed the bowling attack, adding, “Six bowlers – Washy, Kuldeep, Jadeja as spinners.”New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell shared his thoughts as well. He said his team would have preferred to bowl first too. “We would have bowled first. We have been here for a while, gotten used to the conditions. Great facilities here. Big series for here. Proud to play for NZ every time. Playing in these conditions before the WC is a huge advantage,” Bracewell said. He also added, “Great to play in front of big crowds. Looks like a decent wicket, maybe a bit lower than wickets in NZ. We have got Kristian Clarke, Adi Ashok.”