Tempers flare as Nitish Rana-Ayush Badoni involved in fiery exchange, umpire intervenes during SMAT quarter-final - Watch

Things got heated up during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as Nitish Rana engaged in a heated verbal battle with Ayush Badoni. The incident took place during the 13th over, which was bowled by former KKR player Rana. Badoni and Anuj Rawat were in the middle during that time. After the LSG batter played a shot for a single, Nitish from the non-striker's end charged towards him and said something which led to an exchange between the duo. The on-field umpire intervened immediately to separate the two.

A social media user shared a video capturing a tense exchange between the duo, which quickly went viral online. Nitish, captain of KKR in IPL 2023, switched from representing Delhi to playing for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket last year. However, the left-handed batter struggled to make an impact for Bhuvneshwar Kumar's team during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarterfinal match on Wednesday.

The UP team management had high hopes for Nitish Rana when he came out to bat at No. 4 during their 194-run chase. However, he managed only 2 runs off three balls before being dismissed by Badoni on the third ball of the seventh over.

Badoni also claimed the wicket of UP captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar during the match. Bhuvneshwar, who gave away 34 runs in his four-over spell, contributed 20 runs off 13 balls with the bat before being caught by Himmat Singh on the fourth ball of the 19th over.

Also Read - IPL 2025: KKR's most expensive buy Venkatesh Iyer pursuing PhD, soon to be called 'Doctor'