Growing up, Ayush Badoni regularly faced throwdowns from his father Vivek on the cement pitch set up on the rooftop of their Delhi home.Years later, Badoni’s transformation on the senior circuit has all the makings of a fine script. Not the kind his father, a documentary filmmaker, is adept at, but a one that takes the audience through the protagonist’s world of see-sawing emotions; talent, rejection, rise, more despair, before the eventual comeback.Badoni, 26, has nearly experienced the whole spectrum. He has felt the sting of rejection at every level. Once an India U-19 star, he waited four years for a senior debut, caught in the unending chaos that is Delhi cricket selections. He burst onto the Indian Premier League (IPL) spotlight with some sizzling cameos four years ago, but hasn’t owned the stage.A regular for India A side until the Sri Lanka tour in August, the omission from the home series against Australia and the ongoing tour of New Zealand, though, has unlocked a new avatar. A run-making machine at the heart of Delhi’s batting.On Tuesday in Ranchi, leading his team against Jharkhand, Badoni cracked his second successive Ranji Trophy double century, a joint First-Class world record. Only a couple of Delhi batsmen have achieved the feat – Gautam Gambhir in 2001-02 and Virat Kohli (for India) in 2017-18.Last week on a belter at Palam, Badoni waltzed to his career-best score, a flawless 217, against Gujarat. But there were no milestone celebrations, no over-the-top strokeplay at any juncture.Devender Sharma, coach at Delhi’s famous Sonnet Club, has seen Badoni’s journey from close quarters. He has seen him plunder double hundreds in age-group cricket and wait for years. But the recent India A snub stirred Badoni as few exclusions had done before.Story continues below this ad“He told me that he was very disappointed after being dropped from the India A side. I told him that if he performs this season, the India call-up will definitely come. Keeping that in mind, he had to score in every innings. It’s not that you score a double hundred in one match and won’t do anything in the next,” Sharma told The Indian Express.“Last week also, I had messaged him to convert his century into a double hundred. My message was the same yesterday: after the hundred, make it a double.”The weight of Delhi captaincy sits rather lightly on Badoni’s shoulders. His unbeaten 210 on Tuesday was his third double century in 10 matches as Delhi captain, a run he began with a 205 not out against Jharkhand in November 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.Technical adjustments behind the run glut have been minimal, said Devender. The two worked on the more silent, often unnoticed, aspects of First-Class batting.Story continues below this ad Ayush Badoni in action. (FILE photo)“Among players from the North Zone, I feel only Shubman Gill is ahead of him on technique. He has natural class. Whatever cricket Ayush has played, he has always performed this way; double hundreds in U-14, U-16 and U-19 cricket.“At this level, it is not about any drills but controlling the mind,” explained Sharma.“His shot selection has improved. Transitioning from T20s to the red ball, sometimes the mind will struggle to control the flow of the bat. Mentally, he has worked on that.”India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant had also extended similar advice to his junior Delhi teammate.Story continues below this ad“Rishabh was here with me for a few days. He told me to tell Ayush that all he needed was big scores and that he has the potential to play for India for a long time,” said Sharma.Former India batter WV Raman, who briefly coached Badoni during his India U-19 days, has seen a staggered transition.“His transition may not have happened as smoothly as for many others in his batch. That’s one place where it can be very tricky for everybody due to various reasons,” Raman told The Indian Express.Early indications didn’t point to Badoni’s true potential.Story continues below this ad“It’s good to see him getting double hundreds, because he primarily gave people the impression that he would get quick runs and toss his wicket away. He seemed indifferent, maybe even impertinent. But I felt that he had a lot of talent,” recalled Raman.Badoni relishes wickets with his off-spin more than his batting milestones.Late into the second day’s play, after helping Delhi declare at 515 for five, he snipped Jharkhand wicketkeeper Shresht Sagar. In the opening round against Bengal, he had clinched his second five-wicket haul.That hobby is slowly turning into a habit. But for now, the daddy hundreds will do the talking.Story continues below this adBrief scores: Delhi 515/7 (Ayush Badoni 210 not out, Sumit Mathur 150 not out) vs Jharkhand 131/4 (Utkarsh Singh 53 batting)