Former India left-hander Hemang Badani has emerged as the front-runner in the race to become the chief coach of Delhi Capitals (DC), while pacer Munaf Patel’s name is doing the rounds for a role in the support staff of the franchise.
Badani, who played 40 ODIs and 4 Tests for India and was a teammate of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, will replace Ricky Ponting with whom DC parted ways a few weeks earlier.
“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,” an IPL source told PTI.
On the other hand, DC will likely opt for 3 retentions just like most of the other franchises. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is expected to be retained for Rs. 18 crore and will most likely captain DC in the 2025 season. Other retentions include all-rounder Axar Patel for 14 crore and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav for 11 crore.
Last year’s breakaway star Jake-Fraser Mcgurk alongside South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs will likely be picked with the Right To Match (RTM) cards if their price tags are within team’s budget.
On Badani’s name coming up as the head coach, it could be a case of change of management for the next two years where GMR, one of the co-owners, the other being JSW, would be running the show.
Badani has earlier worked with Brian Lara in Sunrisers Hyderabad but if he gets the DC job, then it will be a very big break for him.
