'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.'
Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani opened up on how his franchise scouted young uncapped all-rounder Vipraj Nigam, who bowled exceptionally well in the team’s 25 runs victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League match in Chennai on Saturday.
K L Rahul's batting masterclass, backed by a disciplined bowling performance, powered Delhi Capitals to their third consecutive victory in IPL 2025 season at the M A Chidambaram stadium.
Opting to bat first, 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 for 6 in their 20 overs.
In response, a collective bowling effort, led by Vipraj Nigam (2 for 27), along with a wicket each from Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav, restricted CSK to 158 for 5 and sealed DC's first victory at Chepauk in 15 years.
Reflecting on the team’s brilliant showing, Badani said, "We read the conditions and the surface well. A lot of credit goes to K L 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.
"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 effort with the bat.
Asked about the decision to send Rahul to open the innings in the absence of Faf du Plessis, Badani said: "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."
Badani showered praise on all-rounder Nigam, who is performing consistently for Delhi Capitals.
"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," said the 48-year-old.
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 won all three 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, 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."
With six points from three matches, Delhi Capitals moved to the top of the points table. They will be up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their fourth match in Bengaluru on Thursday, April 10.
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