Former India cricketers Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao have been appointed as head coach and director of cricket respectively for IPL franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of IPL 2025 on Thursday.
The 47-year-old Badani, who represented India in 4 Tests and 40 ODIs, brings an impressive coaching background across various leagues. From 2021 to 2023, he served as a fielding coach with Sunrisers Hyderabad and as a batting coach in successive seasons. He also led the Jaffna Kings to 2 consecutive titles in the Lankan Premier League and was a batting coach for the title-winning Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the inaugural SA20.
Badani has been brought in as a replacement to Ricky Ponting who joined DC as head coach back in 2018, however wasn’t able to achieve much success with the Delhi-based franchise.
“It’s my absolute honour to be joining Delhi Capitals, and I’m deeply grateful to our owners for trusting me with the job,” Badani said in a release.
“With the mega auction around the corner, my job, in collaboration with the rest of our coaching staff, is cut out. I can’t wait to get started,” Badani added.
Rao, who has played 16 ODIs for India, was part of the Deccan Chargers squad that won the IPL in 2009. He also played in 3 IPL seasons for Delhi Daredevils.
“My association with the franchise has been a long-standing one, and I am thankful for the trust our owners have placed in me by offering me this role. I look forward to this new challenge ahead of a new IPL cycle,” Rao said.
The Capitals were runners-up in the 2021 edition but have struggled to reach the top four in the subsequent 3 seasons.
