Former India left-hander Hemang Badani is the front-runner to become the head coach of Delhi Capitals while fast bowler Munaf Patel’s name is in the news for a role in the franchise’s support staff.
New Delhi: Former India left-hander Hemang Badani is the front-runner to become the head coach of Delhi Capitals while fast bowler Munaf Patel’s name is in the news for a role in the franchise’s support staff. Delhi Capitals removed Australia’s Ricky Ponting as head coach a few weeks ago due to his availability issues. Ponting has been with the team since 2018.
Hemang Badani and Munaf Patel are contenders:
An Indian Premier League source told PTI on condition of anonymity, “The Delhi Capitals management is looking for a quality domestic coach and the names of Hemang and Munaf have come up. The final decision has not been made yet but Munaf can be the bowling coach.”
Like most other franchises, Delhi Capitals is also expected to retain three players before the upcoming grand auction. The team can retain captain Rishabh Pant (Rs 18 crore), all-rounder Axar Patel (14 crore) and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav (11 crore).
Retaining five players will cost Rs 75 crore, so it is believed that last year’s star player Jake-Fraser McGurk and South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs can be selected by the team through the Right to Match (RTM) card, provided their price is within the team’s budget.
The reason for Badani’s name coming up as the head coach could be a matter of change in management for the next two years. One of the co-owners of the team, GMR, will now run the team. The other co-owner is JSW. It is believed that both the co-owners have agreed to manage the team for two years each.
Badani has previously worked with Brian Lara at Sunrisers Hyderabad but if he gets this job, it will be a huge opportunity for him. Former Tamil Nadu batsman Badani played four Tests and 40 ODIs for India between 2001-2004, with an ODI century against Australia in the 2001 bilateral series being the highlight of his career.
He will be expected to give Delhi Capitals their first IPL title which has eluded the team since the inception of the league in 2008. Delhi has reached the final only once in 2020 when it lost to Mumbai Indians.