"It's fair.." New Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani opines on IPL 2025 retention rules | EXCLUSIVE

Hemang Badani has been named as the new head coach of Delhi Capitals ahead of the upcoming IPL season.

Delhi Capitals (DC) have appointed former India batsman Hemang Badani as their new head coach ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega-auction. Badani was known for his versatile batting and sharp fielding.

The left-hander has made significant strides in his post-playing career as a coach and mentor and now takes over from Ricky Ponting ahead of the IPL 2025 season. 

Hemang Badani brings a wealth of coaching experience, having previously worked with Chennai Super Gillies in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) while also serving as a fielding coach and a scout for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL and for Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20. His tactical insights and ability to develop young talent have earned him widespread respect in coaching circles.

Additionally, Hemang Badani has worked with another Capitals franchise, India Capitals, in the recently concluded Legends League Cricket (LLC).

In an exclusive interview with Khel Now Cricket which took place last month, Hemang Badani shared his thoughts on the Legends League Cricket tournament, Tamil Nadu cricket, and other cricketing topics, giving a brief idea about his coaching manual and what the Delhi Capitals fans can expect from the southpaw in the upcoming IPL season.

Here are the excerpts from Hemang Badani’s interview:

Q: What are your thoughts on LLC as a concept?

A: I think it is a great concept to have. I say this purely because one, you get to see superstars again; players you have followed over the years. It’s a second chance for fans to have a look at them. And at the same time, it’s also a chance for a lot of the ‘younger’ players. 

When I say ‘younger,’ the guys who have not really made it big at the highest level but always had the aspiration to play with the superstars and play for the national side.

It gives them a chance to showcase themselves; it gives them a chance to earn a good living, and if you are 35, 36 and you are still at the prime of your life, this is a good place to be where you can play for another 4-5 years and earn a living.

Q: You are into broadcasting and you are into coaching as well. So how are both roles different for you?

A: Both have different job roles and different challenges. Broadcasting can be tough with long hours. Broadcasting also to some extent in my case is about language control because I can speak four languages. I end up doing commentary in all the languages. So to be able to speak fluently, to be able to think fluently in a different language at all times is a challenge. But I quite enjoy it.

Also with broadcasting, you are all the time thinking ahead of the game, which is in some ways similar to cricket and similar to coaching, but there is a lot more accountability to coaching purely from the point of view that wherever you coach you are expected to deliver, expected to win, expected to make sure that your side does well. 

With broadcasting, that accountability to some extent is not there. But, there is the challenge of ensuring that the end consumer likes the product: the end consumer gets to listen to something new, gets to listen to what a cricketer might be going through and what could be happening at that point in the game and you are adding value by giving them insights of the game and maybe at times also predict what might happen. 

You may get it right sometimes, you may get it wrong sometimes. But it’s always nice for a broadcaster to say things on air where you are looking forward to something and if that happens it comes out well, you feel nice.

Q: The T20 game has become more and more tactical and the teams use data for tactical match-ups between a batsman and a bowler for their advantage. So what are your thoughts on that?

A: I don’t believe in match-ups really. There is a lot of data on match-ups. You do look at the data and it does give you information and I think there is a lot of time for data in today’s cricket. There is only data which you can make use of with your intelligence as a coach that has to be put forward to the players. 

You don’t blindly go by data. Data gives you a certain direction but you need to know how to apply it. And talking about match-ups, I think it’s more the case that it’s slightly spoken of too much in my books. It does help, it does give you certain ideas, but I don’t genuinely believe that the match-ups have to be looked after or looked into every time. 

Q: You have worked in the IPL and you have also worked in TNPL. How is coaching different in both the leagues?

A: In general terms, cricket is cricket, cricket has its own language and cricketers understand a certain language. In India, you are also at times, if you are looking at upcoming players, looking at leagues that have just cropped up and leagues that I have worked with – for instance, let’s say the TNPL, the challenges of handling players over there are a lot different to handling players who have played at the highest level, who have played better cricket. Here you are spoon-feeding them when I speak of TNPL, speak of a smaller league.

Young players don’t have the confidence, young players don’t have the faith that they are good enough, and the belief is not there. So you are literally trying to be their mental coach also. 

You are also giving them ideas, you are also giving them strategies, you are also literally letting them know how to start the over, how to finish the over, what balls to bowl because they don’t have the exposure themselves. But at the higher level, it is more about strategizing, it’s more about man management, it’s more about telling the player what his roles are in the side as a bowler and as a batter. 

Q: How has your experience working at SA20 been? You were with Sunrisers Eastern Cape and you had won the league. Tell us about that experience.

A: It’s a little different, but speaking of working in South Africa, I thought it was a very easy environment. I loved it. The coaching staff was great, the captain was great, Aiden Markram was the skipper, Andy Birrell, and Dale Steyn (part of the coaching staff). It was very seamless for me. I loved the environment and I think with the amount of love that South Africa has for cricket, that tournament is a good tournament and I quite enjoyed it.

Q: What were the differences you saw in cricket cultures back here and back in South Africa? 

A: Not much really. Obviously, the pitches and the playing surfaces are different compared to what you get in India. So you are trying to play a lot more horizontal shots. The ball comes on a bit more quicker onto the bat. So you are trying to be quicker with your footwork and with your backswing and downswing.

But in general, the culture as such I don’t really think there was a lot different. They also are a nation that loves the sport. They also are very hard working towards their own skill sets and all of them want to improve and play better cricket. So in terms of culture, I didn’t really find a big difference.

Q: You have worked with a TNPL side and now every state association has started their own franchise cricket. Your thoughts on that?

A: It’s a beautiful setup that every state has got their own franchise format. It just showcases more players, showcases talent, gives a lot of the younger players a chance to play better cricket, higher cricket and the chances of playing higher cricket are enhanced and you end up getting there quicker because there is visibility – all the matches are televised – there are scouts watching games everywhere, there are teams looking at picking players for their IPL franchisees.

So you kind of get fast-forwarded to better cricket, faster cricket and I think this is all thanks to every state having their own leagues.

Q: TNPL was one of the first state-based franchise leagues and it has been the hotbed of talent for the past years giving chances to young players but that success has not transferred into Tamil Nadu winning a Ranji Trophy, especially teams like Gujarat, Saurashtra and Madhya Pradesh have won in the recent past. Your views?

A: I hope it happens soon. I hope it happens in the near future. Talking of challenges, why I feel that Tamil Nadu does not end up winning has all to do with their lack of fast bowlers and lack of depth in fast bowling. We haven’t had a proper fast bowler in many years. The only fast bowler that I can think of is Lakshmipathy Balaji. 

But apart from that, there’s no one who’s come out of Tamil Nadu who’s been a fast bowler. And the reason I say this is, you’re playing Ranji Trophy in the months of November, December, January and February. And if you have to win that championship, you’ll have to play in the east, and it’s cold over there.

You have to play in the north, it’s also cold over there. Some places in the west also get cooler, places like Gujarat, Baroda, and Surat all get colder there. You need to have seam bowlers and Tamil Nadu does not have any.

And if you don’t have any fast bowlers, you’re not going to pick wickets. And if you don’t pick wickets, you don’t win matches. So it’s straightforward – the day they’re able to get more fast bowlers, that’s when Tamil Nadu will win the championship.

Q: Speaking of IPL, there was an announcement made by Jay Shah saying that the players will get a certain amount of match fee for every game they play. What do you make of it?

A: I think it is a great initiative. It is exciting for the player now to even play more matches which basically means in some ways you’re encouraging them to play better cricket which means that they have to work harder on the skill set, work harder on their fitness and in the end product is that you have a far better player, you have a finished player, you have a far more readier player because he’s incentivized – he knows that if I do well, I am going to get more recognition, I am going to get more pays, I am going to be incentivized by the board itself and I think it is a very positive move.

Q: Your views on retention rules announced by the BCCI for six players.

A: I mean, I have not really given that a thought really, so I will have to give myself some time to think it over. But I think it’s in some ways fair because if you had a good core, if you made a good core over time, it’s only fair that you retain some of your players.

Q: Final Question, I am going to put you in the spot here. Since you are a Gujarati born in Chennai and we are here in Surat if you had to choose between the two dishes what would you choose? Gujarati Dal Bhaat (Dal-Rice) or Rasam Rice.

A: I would choose Dal Bhaat made by my mother and Rasam Rice made by my wife (laughs).

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