Hemang Badani can’t catch a break as Southern Brave begins a horror hundred

Hemang Badani’s quest for a coaching turnaround suffered another setback after the Delhi Capitals-owned Southern Brave slumped to their third straight defeat in The Hundred 2026. Despite boasting one of the strongest squads on paper, the Braves have endured a nightmare start and are seventh in the eight-team table with a net run rate of 200,201 -.

The Southern Brave, now part of the Delhi Capitals cricket ecosystem following GMR Group’s investment in Hampshire Sport & Leisure Holdings, have appointed Badani as head coach in the hope that they can replicate their success in domestic cricket. Instead, the results were all too familiar.

The Brave opened their campaign with defeats to Welsh Fire and Sunrisers Leeds before suffering a heartbreaking last-ball loss to MI London, leaving them winless after three matches and already facing an uphill battle to reach the knockout stages.

PRESSURE ON THE BADANI

The contrast in Southern Brave’s setting could hardly be greater. While the men’s side lost all three matches, the Southern Brave women won their opening three matches against Welsh Fire, Sunrisers Leeds and MI London to move to the top of the table.

Badani’s difficult start continues a worrying trend. Since becoming the head coach of Delhi Capitals, the franchise has failed to qualify for the IPL playoffs in each of his first two seasons despite fielding talented squads.

The pressure intensified with news that The Delhi Capitals are planning a complete rebuild their coaching setup ahead of the 2027 IPL season. With JSW Group set to take over the men’s team for the 2027-28 cycle under a spin deal with co-owner GMR Group, sweeping changes are expected.

Speaking to PTI earlier this year, an IPL source said, “There will be a complete overhaul of the coaching staff at Delhi Capitals as JSW will be in charge of the management for the 2027-28 seasons as per the agreement.”

“The trio of Venugopal Rao, Hemang Badani and Munaf Patel, who were appointed co-owners of GMR, will make way for new support staff. Sourav Ganguly will take over as director of cricket and Yuvraj will join as batting coach,” an IPL source said.

The Southern Brave squad includes established stars like Jofra Archer, Jamie Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Marcus Stoinis, David Miller, Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid, making their winless start all the more surprising.

There is still time to revive the campaign, but the margin of error is decreasing rapidly. Another defeat could leave the Southern Brave’s playoff hopes hanging in the balance and add to the scrutiny surrounding Badani, whose efforts to restore his coaching reputation have yet to gain traction.

– The end

Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

28 Jul 2026 15:08 IST