Looking at the LSG vs DC clash at the Ekana Stadium on April 1, many moments stand out as Play Of The Day contenders.
We can start with Rishabh Pant running out, followed by Lungi Ngidi channeling his inner DJ Bravo to drive Nicholas Pooran crazy. It’s always nice to see T Natarajan back on the field and his magic deserves a special mention. When it came to the second innings, spells from Mohammed Shami and Mohsin Khan and Prince Yadav’s double wicket gave LSG hope of victory.
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But thenDC pulled off a masterstroke with Sameer Rizvi. When everyone expected Ashutosh Sharma to come in, they sent in Rizvi, someone they had a lot of faith in for the last two seasons. A 70 from him in his own backyard was enough to get DC over the line.
But those are the moments on the field. Sometimes even one of them wins matches. And on Wednesday night, it was all about that one moment.
BADANI HAS A MEETING WITH MILLER
Thus, LSG seemed to make a lot of inroads into Delhi’s batting line-up using the pacers. The way Shami bowled and the rest just followed right after KL Rahul’s dismissal.
The red ground suddenly seemed to have a demon in it who had had enough of seeing the bats run a lot. DC kept losing wickets in a flurry.
Nitish Rana, Pathum Nissanka failed to make an impact in their DC debuts prompting Axar Patel to step up. Prince cleaned him up and the score was 26 for four in 4.3 overs.
At this time, DC had the option of sending either David Miller or Tristan Stubbs. If you recall, it was Miller who recently changed the game for South Africa in their Super 8 game against India in Ahmedabad. The Proteas were struggling that day and needed a lot of help and Miller stepped up.
Ideally during this time you feel like going with an experienced man and Miller seemed like a safe bet. That’s when the cameras caught Badani.
He seemed to be walking near the pavilion lost in thought. His team was falling apart and they needed some inspiration.
Badani suddenly had the face of a scientist in his laboratory. Suddenly the formula seemed to work and he had his eureka moment. The DC trainer ran over to Miller and the southpaw was already padded with a helmet on. Rizvi and Stubbs formed the winning combination for DC in a tight game. (Photo: PTI)
Badani told him it was Tristan Stubbs who was going in and things changed along the way.
“It was a huge moment in that game. Because Badani ran out of the locker room and came down and talked to David Miller. Wait, wait a minute. I think we’ve got to send Stubbs in under these conditions. He’s going to handle this situation a lot better, not that David Miller can. But at this particular moment, I think they’ve won at this particular point. Not only that, of course, once you come into an older guy, you can’t say anything, okay, now wait. otherwise you’re going to to present in such a way that this guy will not feel bad and he has done that,” said Pathan.
Now in the history of the game, we’ve seen a few such smart calls. Who can forget MS Dhoni’s challenge to field ahead of Yuvraj Singh during the 2011 World Cup final?
Or when Travis Head was promoted as an opener during the 1st Test of the Ashes 2025-26?
As far as this game is concerned, there’s a reason the move worked.
STUBBS ABSORB PRESSURE
So the headlines maybe all about Rizvi and rightly so. But Stubbs absorbed the pressure very early in his innings to allow his partner to flourish at the end.
He started with a border and the intention was clear. There is no need to rush, just ensure the swing of the shot and punish the bad balls on offer. Just normal, no nonsense cricket.
There was a slight clash with Prince Yadav, but he ultimately negated the threat from the LSG pacers. When the spinners came, he was happy to let Rizvi take over and just take them off. He knew his partner was a better fit for the role because he was a hometown boy.
Stubbs finished with 39 off 32 balls, but more than the innings, it will be Badani’s run from the pavilion to the dugout that will be fondly remembered.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
02 Apr 2026 07:16 IST
