Delhi wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat has landed himself in hot water after skipping his side’s preparation camp for the upcoming round of Ranji Trophy match to attend his Indian Premier League (IPL) side Gujarat Titans (GT)’s training camp in Surat. Rawat was bought by GT for Rs 30 lakh at the IPL 2025 mega auction last year, having been released by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Rawat was mentioned among the players who had joined the nets session in GT’s official statement. 

“Gujarat Titans have commenced their preparations for the IPL 2025 with a training camp in Surat. Players like Anuj Rawat, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Kumar Kushagra, Mahipal Lomror and Arshad Khan have joined the team in the camp along with the coaches and support staff,” the franchise said in a statement.

At a time when the BCCI brass is adamant that players should give precedence to red-ball cricket during the season, Rawat attending an IPL camp only a week before the commencement of red-ball season is a clear indication of where his priorities lie.

It must be mentioned here that veteran bowler Ishant Sharma has already told DDCA that he won’t play red-ball cricket anymore now that he is no longer in contention for a national comeback.

When DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma, who is also the convenor of the senior state team selection committee, was asked if the player in question had sought permission to join his IPL team’s pre-season conditioning camp, he replied in negative.

“I have no knowledge that Anuj has skipped the ongoing Ranji Trophy camp to attend the IPL team’s camp. Ideally, he needs to take permission from the state association. We have two Ranji games left and the camp is on at the Kotla. I don’t know who gave him the permission to skip the Ranji Trophy camp,” Sharma told PTI.

“Ishant’s case is different as he doesn’t need DDCA’s permission since he doesn’t play Ranji Trophy.” It is learnt that normally, if an IPL pre-season conditioning camp coincides with a state team camp, one normally takes permission from either the president or the secretary before attending an IPL net session.

“We have received a few official e-mail requests from certain players asking for permission to join their respective IPL camps but I can confirm that we have received no written request from Anuj Rawat. In that case, he shouldn’t have joined the IPL camp,” a senior DDCA official, who looks after cricket operations, said on condition of anonymity.

Last year, KKR’s IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer, who will lead Punjab Kings this season, lost his central contract along with Ishan Kishan, for giving more importance to IPL than domestic cricket.

(With PTI Inputs)

Newly-appointed Delhi captain Ayush Badoni displayed his true potential with a sparkling century to keep Delhi on course for a first innings lead against Jharkhand on the third day of their group D Ranji Trophy match here on Friday. Known for his exploits at the IPL level for Lucknow Super Giants, Badoni showed his appetite for runs with an unbeaten 116 off 144 balls in Delhi’s day end score of 238 for 5 in reply to Jharkhand’s healthy first innings total of 382. Badoni has added 80 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand with Sumit Mathur (19 batting) but his job is far from over as Delhi need another 148 runs on the final day to take three more points and remain in contention for a quarter-final berth with two more matches to go.

The difference in quality between Badoni and some of his teammates was for everyone to see as he hit 11 fours and four sixes — two off former MI left-arm spinner Anukul Roy apart from 11 crisply hit boundaries.

Delhi were 98 for 4 at one stage with only Anuj Rawat (52) among the top-order making significant contribution.

This season’s designated skipper Himmat Singh (0), who was sacked after defeat against Chandigarh, continued his poor run of form and is expected to be replaced by Jonty Sidhu in the next game.

The first significant stand was 60 for the fifth wicket between Mayank Gusain (24) and Badoni.

The best part about Badoni’s batting was unlike his other colleagues, he didn’t get into a shell and counterpunched the Jharkhand bowlers with strokes all around the ground, never afraid to take the aerial route which he did while getting four maximums.

On the final day, the skipper would hope to get a double hundred but more importantly expect support from both Mathur and lower-order batter Siddhant Sharma, both capable players, who have already contributed with the bat earlier this season.

Brief Scores: In Delhi: Jharkhand 1st Innings 382 (Kumar Kushagra 156, Sharandeep Singh 66, Simarjeet Singh 3/52). Delhi 1st Innings 238/5 (Ayush Badoni 116 batting, Anuj Rawat 52).

In Chandigarh: Saurashtra 531/9 decl (Chirag Jani 198, Nishunk Birla 4/160). Chandigarh 249 (Rajangad Bawa 92, Jaydev Unadkat 3/50). (f/o) 184/7 (Ankit Kaushik 64 batting, Yuvraj Dodiya 3/87) In Raipur: Assam 1st Innings 289 and 58/1. Chattisgarh 500/9 decl (Ayush Pandey 211, Parvez Musaraf 3/22).

In Ahmedabad: Railways 229 and 169/5 (B Vivek Singh 63, Mohammed Saif 52 batting).

Tamil Nadu 438 (Mohamed Ali 91, C Andre Siddarth 78).