Courtesy: X
Hemang Badani, the former Indian cricketer, has reportedly emerged as the front-runner to become the new head coach of Delhi Capitals after the departure of Ricky Ponting from the role. As per the reports, DC is looking to bring in home-grown coaches, which is why Hemang Badani could become the head coach of the franchise, while Munaf Patel could become their bowling coach for the IPL 2025 season as well.
Notably, the name of Hemang Badani has come up for the coaching role of Delhi Capitals since GMR, one of the co-owners of the franchise, the other being JSW, would be running the franchise for the next two years. As per the report from the Times of India, these two entities are understood to have an agreement on managing DC every two alternate years.
DC management is looking at quality home-grown coaches: Sources
According to the IPL source, who talked to the PTI on the condition of anonymity, “DC management is looking at quality home-grown coaches and Hemang and Munaf's names have cropped up. A final decision is yet to be taken but in case of Munaf, it could be bowling coach's job.” Moreover, Hemang Badani was a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad coaching staff in 2023, when Brian Lara was their head coach, but the franchise had a dismal season, finishing in 10th and final place in the standings.
Moreover, Delhi Capitals are likely to retain three players for the upcoming IPL 2025 season, including their captain Rishabh Pant (INR 18 Crore), Axar Patel (INR 14 Crore), and Kuldeep Yadav (INR 11 crore). They will also be looking to bring back the explosive overseas duo of Jake-Fraser McGurk (AUS) and Tristan Stubbs (SA), who had scored the bulk of the runs for the franchise last season, possibly with the help of Right To Match (RTM) cards.
