Hemang Badani, Munaf Patel on Delhi Capitals’ radar as head coach, bowling coach respectively

Hyderabad: Former Indian cricketer Hemang Badani could soon become the head coach of Delhi Capitals from the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Along with Badani, Munaf Patel could also be in the support staff list.

According to reports, Delhi Capitals are looking for quality home-grown coaches and with Badani’s exposure as a coach in many franchise leagues and Patel’s experience might have tilted the scales in their favour.

The former India batter would replace former World Cup winning Australian Ricky Ponting as the head coach of the franchise. Ponting had been managing Delhi Capitals from the 2018 season and called it quits from the role over full-time availability issues.

Badani had earlier been in the support staff of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL but has never managed a head coach’s role in India’s top T20 circuit. The southpaw, however, has rich experience in managing teams as the head coach in other leagues, most notably the Tamil Nadu Premier League, where he guided Chepauk Super Gillies to titles.

If he gets the nod, Badani’s first task is to finalise the retentions and the options for a Right to Match during the auctions. His next task would be to guide the team to the IPL title, something that has eluded the team since its inception.

For the record, Delhi Capitals have just made one final appearance in the IPL – in 2020 – where they lost to Mumbai Indians.

In the case of retentions, it could be a three-way choice with captain Rishabh Pant (INR 18 crore), Axar Patel (INR 14 crore) and Kuldeep Yadav (INR 11 crore) as the three retentions.

The franchise could then use the Right to Match card for Jake-Fraser McGurk, the last year's breakaway star, and Tristan Stubbs.

The franchise would be hoping to build a new team in the auction that would have the firepower to power them to the elusive title.