CHENNAI: Former India player and Tamil Nadu captain Hemang Badani, who is the head coach of Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), added one more feather to his cap in his illustrious career as he was named as the men's head coach of Southern Brave for The Hundred in the 2026 season a few days ago. Badani, thus, becomes the only Indian coach to have worked in three international leagues the IPL, The Hundred, and ILT20.
Badani replaced Adrian Birrell. The Chennai-based coach will now work alongside former England batter Ian Bell, who has been named assistant coach for the season in The Hundred. The duo is already part of Delhi Capitals, where Bell was appointed as Badani's deputy ahead of the 2026 IPL season.
Badani was pleased to be appointed as head coach of Southern Brave and said that his immediate focus is the IPL. He is the first player from Tamil Nadu to be a head coach of an IPL team.
In the Lanka Premier League (LPL), Badani has won two titles (consecutive) as a consultant/coach with Jaffna Kings. In SA20, he was batting coach of Sunrisers Eastern Cape that won the inaugural title in 2023. In the ILT20, he played a major role as head coach in the Dubai Capitals title win in 2025.
The former India top-order batter believes that his experience as a coach would come in handy for the Delhi team in this edition of the IPL.
Led by India T20I team's vice-captain Axar Patel, the Delhi Capitals team for the 2026 edition is a solid one with a good mixture of youth and experience in its ranks.
During the 2026 auction, Delhi made significant moves to increase their batting depth by bringing in the likes of David Miller, Ben Duckett, and Pathum Nissanka in a team that already had the likes of KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs. Their bowling attack is also formidable with Aussie great Mitchell Starc leading the pack with Lungi Ngidi, T Natarajan and Kuldeep Yadav lending support to the world's best left-arm fast bowler. "We have a very good side that ticks all the boxes. So we are confident of doing well in the IPL this season,'' said Badani from England in an exclusive chat with The New Indian Express.
Last season, Delhi began well but failed to keep up the momentum and ended up fifth in the table. "We are aware of what happened last year and we have analyzed it. Obviously, we want to do well this year and we are looking forward to a good season. We are keen on bettering what we did last season. We will take one game at a time and take the team forward," said Badani.
What are the areas the team is looking to improve upon this season?
"Well, there were concerns about the opening and we have tried to address the opening batting. We are getting two fresh new batters in Duckett and Nissanka," said Badani.
Delhi have a lot of depth and they have a problem of choice now. "There are many key batters for us. We have a problem of choice. There is KL Rahul, there is Stubbs, then there is Miller, there is Nissanka. There is Ashutosh Sharma, Nitish (Rana) too. I mean it is a very deep batting line-up. I think in the benches too, we have Samir Rizvi, Karun Nair and there are so many more players. Abhishek Porel, there are many options. Our batting runs very deep," explained the 49-year-old.
Delhi also boast an equally strong bowling attack with a lot of variety in their ranks. "Our key spinners are India's best spinners, Kuldeep and Axar Patel. So, in case one spinner has an off day, we have a back-up spinner in Vipraj Nigam, who has already played for India 'A' this year," said Badani.
"Our fast-bowling attack is very potent and would be lethal on a given day. Starc, Ngidi, Dushmantha Chameera, Mukesh Kumar and Natarajan are there. So it is a very experienced attack that can adapt to any conditions and any wicket," he added.
Speaking of Natarajan, he could be rusty as he was not part of the Tamil Nadu attack in T20 as the state selectors had gone in for youngsters this season.
''Nattu (Natarajan) is bowling well. He was not dropped from the Tamil Nadu side. Since they wanted a young side, they did not play him. Natarajan is in good rhythm and bowling well. He is an experienced player who knows his job and brings value to the table," said Badani.
Badani felt the upcoming season will be an open contest. "Every team has a chance to win the IPL. It is about who turns up well through the season, who plays good cricket throughout the season, and who is consistent till the end. Every team has to be beaten to win the cup."
Delhi also have a good management setup with former India player, Venugopal Rao, as Director of Cricket. "Venugopal Rao knows the game very well. He has played cricket for many years and he is a prolific person in cricket circles and adds great value," said Badani.
