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Hindustan Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
'Rishabh Pant, forget about being vice-captain of Team India': Gautam Gambhir 'must have a chat' with India keeper
"Rishabh, tu apna game khel, forget that you are the vice captain of Team India," that's the only advice India head coach Gautam Gambhir should give the wicketkeeper-batter before the five-match Test series against England, starting June 20, feels former India batter Hemang Badani. Pant, officially part of the leadership group for the first time, will have the task of ushering in the new era of India's Test side under captain Shubman Gill. With the retirement of R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India lost the experience of nearly 300 Tests at one go. Filling that gap in in between two series is asking for Rome to be built in a day. But to the relief of India fans, they have players like Pant to bank on. Yes, one can bank on Pant in Test cricket. He did not have the best of times in Australia earlier this year. His IPL 2025, as the most expensive player in the league's history, didn't go as LSG would have hoped for but he still is one of India's best bets with the bat every time they step onto the field wearing whites. 1681 runs in SENA countries at an average of 37.81 with centuries everywhere barring New Zealand, scream Pant's potential as a batter. Few would argue that Pant, in only the first five years of his Test career, has already played some of the best knocks by an Indian in overseas conditions. The last Test that India played in England, Pant blasted 146 off 111 balls in the first innings where India were reduced to 98 for 5. This was his second Test century in England in as many tours. In his debut in Nottingham, seven years ago, he got off the mark with a six on the second ball that he faced in international cricket. In the practice sessions that India have had in the lead up to the five-match Test series, Pant has shown no signs of relenting – He dented the roof in one of the stands at Lords' and sent people living nearby the Beckenham ground ducking for cover with blistering sixes. Badani, a former India batter and now the head coach of Delhi Capitals, wants to see this version of Rishabh Pant next week, not the heavily cautious vice captain of the Indian Test side, weighed down by responsibility and expectations. "I genuinely hope it doesn't change one bit. I think he is somebody who has found the right balance of attacking stroke-making and defensive stroke-making in this cricket. So I don't see any reason why you should try and change that," Badani told Hindustan Times in an exclusive chat. Badani said Gambhir and the Indian team management should have a chat with him before the Test series and make it clear that he should continue playing his natural game that has brought him success in red-ball cricket in the last six or seven years. He didn't become vice captain of the Indian side because he was subdued. He was chosen for a leadership role because of the sheer success he has had in Test cricket by thinking positively. "It's important that someone like Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, has a chat with him and speaks to him and says, 'Rishabh tu apna game khel.' Don't think too hard about captaincy, vice captaincy, you're the second in command, none of that. "There is a certain way that you've played over the years and that has worked well for you. And I think it will work well for us if he does that again, because he is a batter who comes to the bat at times when the second new ball is due," Badani added. There may be a lot of changes in the Indian batting line-up after Rohit and Kohli's retirement but Pant is certain to bat at No.5. Badani believes he has chance to keep the opposition under pressure at that number. "You want to keep the bowling on the mat, you want to keep them under pressure rather than keep leaving balls and let them settle down into a good line and length. It then it becomes easier for the bowler to try and pick wickets. "He needs to think like Rishabh Pant and nothing else. The management will have a massive say in this as to how free he is as a batter. And they should give him the freedom to go and bat with utmost positivity and not hold him back. Because the only challenge is that when you see a batter isn't having the right balance, but he does have the right balance." ((Watch India tour of England from 3:30 PM, June 20th onwards LIVE On Sony Sports Ten 1 & Sony Sports Ten 5 channels))
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Our execution wasn't up to the mark in the end, says DC coach Badani
Despite having lost six of its last eight games, the manner in which Delhi Capitals bowlers had restricted Mumbai Indians for the first 18 overs of a must-win game would have given the visiting dugout a ray of hope of making a rare playoffs appearance in the Indian Premier League. However, the last two overs saw Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir pulverise Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera for 48 runs. Hemang Badani, the DC head coach, admitted that the seasoned pacers erred in their plans and execution. 'Until then, the 18 overs that were bowled by us were consistent and spot on. Our execution wasn't to our expectations in the end. Those 48 runs in the last two overs were a big difference,' Badani said after DC's hopes were dashed after a 59-run loss at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. '[The pacers should] be able to read the game better and be able to understand that the surface was slower. We could have gone to cutters and wide yorkers. Even if you look to nail yorkers at this level, you would expect bowlers of international level to come and nail those balls. If you don't do that, players like Surya, who has been around long enough, will punish you.' DC has employed seven opening combinations so far and still returned with the lowest opening partnership average in IPL 2025. Badani admitted it as a major setback in a campaign that went downhill after starting with four consecutive wins. 'A settled opening pair is only possible when your opening pair gives you a start. If you don't get starts, you are bound to make changes to try and fill that gap,' Badani said. 'While other sides have had great PowerPlay with the bat, we haven't had those, unfortunately. Opening was a worry for us'.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- Sport
- NDTV
After Heartbreaking Loss vs MI, DC Coach Hemang Badani Says, "If You Go Back..."
The failure to find a settled opening pair throughout the season is one of the reasons why Delhi Capitals have not progressed into the IPL knockout stage despite an impressive start, says head coach Hemang Badani. Delhi Capitals crashed out of the race to reach the IPL playoffs with a 59-run loss to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, which was also their fifth defeat in last seven matches with one victory and a washed out contest. Delhi Capitals tried out as many as seven partners with no considerable success in 13 matches, and will now take on Punjab Kings in their last game on Saturday. "A settled opening pair is only possible when your opening pair gives you a start. If you don't get starts, you are bound to make changes to try and fill that gap, fill that void," Badani told the media here. "If you go back and see the other sides which have had great starts and great powerplays with the bat, we haven't had those starts and hence we've had to make those changes." "We had Jake (Fraser-McGurk) at the top earlier, it didn't work for us. Abishek (Porel), then we had Faf (du Plessis), then we also had Karun (Nair) to come in. It's just that we haven't had anyone really making sure, ensuring that we get off to good starts,' he added. Badani continued, 'Our opening at the top was a worry for us and I think one of the reasons why we haven't gone forward.' KL Rahul's performance has perhaps been the only bright spot in the DC lineup with the India wicketkeeper-batter scoring 504 runs and 13 matches so far. Badani said Rahul is not taking any additional pressure after he right-hander was dismissed for 11 having moved to the opening slot. 'They are all seasoned campaigners. They've been playing IPL from season one. So I don't necessarily think that he is taking any extra added pressure. He understands that we are at a position where we have to win this,' he said. 'It's just one of those days where, again, our opening didn't really give us those starts,' he added. The former India player also rued Delhi Capitals not being able to finish a few matches which they could have in the past, recalling the loss to Mumbai Indians in New Delhi which marked the revival of the five-time winners in the league. 'We had a great sprint to start with. We had a massive start to start with. If I'm not mistaken, (we had) five wins in (first) six games. That's a great place to be,' he said. 'Since then we've just struggled and we've not found that win. To some extent we've also had games where I genuinely felt that we could have won and we just didn't finish those games.' 'For instance even (against) Mumbai at Delhi, the game (in which) Karun Nair got 90 odd, we were cantering along and we lost the game from there. Even the game against KKR, we had to get 60 in six (overs) with seven wickets in hand, (and we had) two set batters." Badani added, 'We missed out there. You want to ideally finish those games. If you want to win this competition, if you want to go to the playoffs, you want to ideally finish those games and if you don't finish those games, then you have no one else to blame but yourself.'
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Failure to find settled opening pair among Delhi Capitals' concerns this IPL, says coach Hemang Badani
The failure to find a settled opening pair throughout the season is one of the reasons why Delhi Capitals have not progressed into the IPL knockout stage despite an impressive start, says head coach Hemang Badani . Delhi Capitals crashed out of the race to reach the IPL playoffs with a 59-run loss to Mumbai Indians here on Wednesday, which was also their fifth defeat in last seven matches with one victory and a washed out contest. Delhi Capitals tried out as many as seven partners with no considerable success in 13 matches, and will now take on Punjab Kings in their last game on Saturday. "A settled opening pair is only possible when your opening pair gives you a start. If you don't get starts, you are bound to make changes to try and fill that gap, fill that void," Badani told the media here. "If you go back and see the other sides which have had great starts and great powerplays with the bat, we haven't had those starts and hence we've had to make those changes." "We had Jake (Fraser-McGurk) at the top earlier, it didn't work for us. Abishek (Porel), then we had Faf (du Plessis), then we also had Karun (Nair) to come in. It's just that we haven't had anyone really making sure, ensuring that we get off to good starts," he added. Live Events Badani continued, "Our opening at the top was a worry for us and I think one of the reasons why we haven't gone forward." KL Rahul 's performance has perhaps been the only bright spot in the DC lineup with the India wicketkeeper-batter scoring 504 runs and 13 matches so far. Badani said Rahul is not taking any additional pressure after he right-hander was dismissed for 11 having moved to the opening slot. "They are all seasoned campaigners. They've been playing IPL from season one. So I don't necessarily think that he is taking any extra added pressure. He understands that we are at a position where we have to win this," he said. "It's just one of those days where, again, our opening didn't really give us those starts," he added. The former India player also rued Delhi Capitals not being able to finish a few matches which they could have in the past, recalling the loss to Mumbai Indians in New Delhi which marked the revival of the five-time winners in the league. "We had a great sprint to start with. We had a massive start to start with. If I'm not mistaken, (we had) five wins in (first) six games. That's a great place to be," he said. "Since then we've just struggled and we've not found that win. To some extent we've also had games where I genuinely felt that we could have won and we just didn't finish those games." "For instance even (against) Mumbai at Delhi, the game (in which) Karun Nair got 90 odd, we were cantering along and we lost the game from there. Even the game against KKR, we had to get 60 in six (overs) with seven wickets in hand, (and we had) two set batters." Badani added, "We missed out there. You want to ideally finish those games. If you want to win this competition, if you want to go to the playoffs, you want to ideally finish those games and if you don't finish those games, then you have no one else to blame but yourself."
India Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- India Today
IPL 2025: DC head coach rues missed yorkers, Axar Patel absence in MI loss
Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani admitted that missed yorkers from his side's bowlers and the absence of regular skipper Axar Patel were the two major reasons behind their 59-run defeat to Mumbai Indians on May 21, a loss that officially knocked DC out of the IPL 2025 playoffs at the post-match press conference at the Wankhede Stadium, Badani expressed disappointment at how the team's experienced international pacers—Mustafizur Rahman and Dushmantha Chameera—struggled to execute their plans in a must-win 2025: MI vs DC Highlights "The game changed in the last two overs that we bowled. The 18 overs that were bowled by us were consistent and spot on. Our execution wasn't to our expectation in the end and we ended up giving away 48 in 12 balls,' Badani said.'We should have read the game better and should have understood that the surface was slower, could have gone to the cutters, could have also gone to bowl wide yorkers. You would expect bowlers of international level to come and nail the yorkers and if you don't do that, players like Suryakumar Yadav who have been around long enough will punish you,' he absence of Mitchell Starc, Delhi's leading wicket-taker this season with 14 scalps in 11 matches, proved to be a significant setback. Starc, who opted not to return to India after the IPL's mid-season suspension, left a gap that Mustafizur Rahman and Dushmantha Chameera failed to adequately cover. Mustafizur, brought in as a late replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, returned with modest figures of 1 for 30, while Chameera had a night to forget, conceding 54 runs without taking a pacer Mukesh Kumar also had an underwhelming outing—despite picking up two wickets, he leaked 48 runs in his four overs. Delhi's death bowling woes were fully exposed as Mumbai plundered 48 runs in the last two overs. Mukesh was taken apart for 27 in the 19th over, followed by Chameera conceding 21 in the 20th. This late onslaught allowed Suryakumar Yadav to finish unbeaten on a fluent 73 off 43 balls, while Naman Dhir's explosive 24 off 8 deliveries gave Mumbai a match-winning also emphasised that the absence of regular skipper Axar Patel on a Wankhede pitch that showed early signs of turn left a significant void in the side during their most crucial game of the season.'But I would like to add here that someone like Axel Patel would have made a massive difference to us. A left-arm spinner on this surface would have been very helpful for us. Moreover, his left hand-batting would have also countered (Mitchell) Santner. But as I said, the better side won and I wish them well,' Badani 181, DC's batting unit faltered once again, crumbling to 121 all out in 18.2 overs. From a team that had once begun the season with four straight wins, it was a bitter end. MI, on the other hand, sealed the final playoff berth and look rejuvenated heading into the updated on IPL 2025 with India Today! Get match schedules, team squads, live score, and the latest IPL points table for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Plus, keep track of the top contenders for the IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap. Don't miss a moment!Must Watch IN THIS STORY#IPL 2025
