‘We have won three, but lot of cricket left’ – Coach Hemang Badani wants Delhi Capitals to stay ‘humble and grounded’

KL Rahul’s batting masterclass, backed by a disciplined bowling performance, powered Delhi Capitals to their third consecutive win of IPL 2025, as they defeated hosts Chennai Super Kings by 25 runs at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

After opting to bat first, KL Rahul’s sublime 77 off 51 balls, Abishek Porel’s brisk 33 off 20, and a quickfire unbeaten 24 off 12 from Tristan Stubbs helped Delhi Capitals post 183/6 in their 20 overs. In response, a collective bowling effort led by Vipraj Nigam (2/27), along with a wicket each from Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav, restricted the hosts to 158/5, sealing Delhi Capitals’ first victory at Chepauk in 15 years.

Reflecting on a brilliant show by the team, Head Coach Hemang Badani said during the post-match press conference, “We read the conditions and the surface well. A lot of credit goes to KL Rahul, who was very mature at the top. He kept one end going which helped the other batters around him play more aggressively. The score that we posted was a good one to defend on this pitch.”

“(KL) Rahul was clear enough that he was not going to let Noor (Ahmed) settle down because he felt that Noor was somebody who was a crucial bowler for CSK. He wanted to make sure that he put the spinner under some pressure. Once you put the opposition’s best bowler down, it becomes difficult for the opposition to keep coming back after that,” he added while lauding Rahul’s efforts with the bat.

When asked about the decision of sending Rahul to open the innings in the absence of Faf du Plessis, Badani shared, “He has opened for India in Test cricket recently. He has batted at four or five in the recently concluded Champions Trophy and he is somebody who can play both spin and pace well. So, I genuinely don’t think it is difficult for someone of his calibre to make the shift. He has got the mindset and the understanding of the game to go up the order or bat at number 4.”

Young all-rounder Nigam has been performing consistently for Delhi Capitals and the Head Coach also had words of praise for him. “He is somebody we’ve scouted in the last 6-8 months prior to the auction and we believe that he will go on to be a good player in time. He’s already doing very well. But I think there’s a massive upside to him. You will get to hear of his progress, not just with the ball, but also the bat. He’s already done that with the bat once but I genuinely feel that he will do it more often,” the 48-year-old said.

Speaking about the team’s winning momentum in the competition, Badani said, “We are happy as a side to take the three wins. But at the same time, we all know that there is still a lot of cricket left. I have also been a cricketer. And I have seen a lot of ups and downs in life. So, we have won all 3 matches. There is no excitement. We are still humble and grounded. We want to keep playing good cricket.”

Commenting on his role as Head Coach of Delhi Capitals, Hemang Badani said, “It’s been about 8–10 years of putting in the hard yards, starting from the TNPL, moving through the IPL, SA20, ILT20, and now taking charge as Head Coach in the IPL. I’ve gradually gone up the ranks. I am glad that GMR and JSW at DC gave me this opportunity to be at the top of things at DC. I am enjoying it so far,” he concluded.

With six points in three matches, Delhi Capitals have moved to the top of the points table. They will be up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their fourth match of IPL 2025 in Bengaluru on Thursday, April 10.

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