'People are seeing something in Indian coaches now' - Hemang Badani and a changing coaching order

Of the ten head coaches in IPL 2026, three of them happen to be Indian. One of them, Hemang Badani, enjoys a CV brimming with trophies in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and the ILT20 as head coach. He has also been part of three title-winning campaigns in the Lanka Premier League as a batting consultant, and served as batting coach for Sunrisers Eastern Cape during their SA20 win in 2023.

Set for his second season in charge of the Delhi Capitals, Badani has a maiden gig with Southern Brave - now the Capitals' sister franchise - lined up at the Men's Hundred later this year, marking a rare instance of an Indian head coach across three franchise competitions around the world.

Slowly, but surely, Indian coaches are going global in different capacities, particularly with a telling IPL takeover across franchise competitions around the world, while India have not had an overseas coach in charge post the 2015 World Cup. Is this a sign of a new dawn for aspiring coaches from India?

In an exclusive conversation with Cricbuzz prior to the start of IPL 2026, Badani opened up about what it's like to be an Indian coach overseas, building trust with a player and the future of the coaching landscape for an Indian professional.

Your journey as a coach has been unique, Hemang. You had success overseas in the ILT20 with Dubai Capitals before your first season at the helm of Delhi Capitals. Was this always the plan? How was the roadmap laid out for you?

I think the roadmap was actually laid out for me in many ways prior to that itself, when I was coaching at a much smaller league, the TNPL. I thought that really helped me to gradually get up the ladder. I still do believe that there's lots to be done. There's also an IPL trophy that I still want to win and I'm desperate to win. But having said that, TNPL literally was my starting point of coaching which happened by chance to be honest.

A lot of times you have to listen to the players. It's not that coaching is one-sided or one-dimensional where you are the one who is talking all the time. I don't think coaching works that way. Maybe to some extent it does work at age-group cricket where kids are more receptive and kids need all your guidance and all your inputs. But as it goes by and as you start working with semi-professional and professional players who have played a lot of cricket, it's also important to understand where they are at, what are they thinking, what are they working on and how can I add value rather than saying this is the way it has to be done and that's the only way it has to be done. I don't think that really functions.

And I think my plus is about player management, giving them enough clarity. It's come over time. I never thought that I had the temperament to be a coach. I always felt that I was somebody who was better off doing something else. But sometimes, it's not that you design something, and it doesn't work that way at all times. And though it's something which I hadn't planned, nor did I even think I could do, now I think I quite enjoy it and I would believe that I do a decent job of it.

Does an Indian player find it much more comfortable communicating with an Indian coach?

There are very good coaches in the world. Some of them are also overseas and have done a fantastic job with their coaching careers for many, many years. But I would believe that an Indian coach will be able to reach out or for that matter, vice-versa, the player could reach out to the coach a lot better because it's a question of understanding the culture and the pulse. That is massive. It's very important for us to understand the background of the player, where he is coming from.

Let's say, a domestic player or a player that has played for India - I would literally know his background from his under-12 or under-15 days. I would have done my homework to find out more and more about him. It's easier for me to go back to his state, his own players and his older coaches and get enough information about that player. That makes it easier for me to communicate with that player and also understand what works for him, what doesn't work for him. I think it's a question of you being in the environment longer than the other people.

Does the opposite hold true though? Is communication or cultural difference a barrier overseas?

It's more about how you are able to communicate with them. How you are able to bring them on your side, how quickly do they understand what we are trying to do. And at the same time, how quickly do I understand what they are looking at doing, what are their pluses and minuses, what have their recent performances been, what has been their recent setback. How can I help him? How can I make that person better? At the same time, if someone is batting and bowling beautifully, how can I just maintain that and not have to tinker much? So, it's important as a coach to recognise all of that.

Have you found a difference in terms of how a player is approaching the game though when you reconvene with him after a year? And in that case, does that become a challenge to tackle?

We have recognised as a coach, a certain player of calibre will be playing about four or five leagues in a year, which basically means he is going to be under four or five different coaches. The role clarity given to that player in different environments could be so different. Another coach could tell him to bat differently by saying, 'I want you to be a bit more aggressive', vis-a-vis, I would say, 'You are my leader, I want you to take the game deep'. So, it also depends on the structure of each team and what are the skill sets of other players in that particular team.

You will never have a player coming back to you after a year, literally doing the same thing that he was doing for you last year. And if you are looking at a similar role the next year, then you give him a heads-up saying 'I am looking at the same role. I can see that the roles have changed for you in recent times. But I want you to come back to the same role we had last year.' Or if I feel that the new role has suited him better, then I could also let him know that 'You know what, I like what you are doing now. Let me see if I can enable that and if I can give you a similar role in my team going forward.'

I think the players have the onus on themselves. I can't change a coach or I can't change a player in about five days prior to the tournament. And IPL is the only tournament where you have a longer practice duration before the season. Every other tournament literally has about five-odd days. So, you are not tinkering with the technique at all. You are only giving them role clarity and telling them how to maximise themselves. You are letting them know what is expected of them based on their comfort levels as well. And you are ensuring that they have everything they need to be match-ready when they get on the field.

We're starting to see more Indian coaches take charge and with success, but why do you think it has taken this long for franchises to look at more Indian options?

Genuinely, I try to look deep and find that answer. I think it's best to ask some franchise owners about that. But I do believe that there are enough and more good Indian coaches that have come up in recent times who can do a good job. I accept the fact that in the initial years, there weren't enough coaches in India. There wasn't enough coaching structure for former players to be professional coaches in India. And it has changed in time, prime examples being Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir winning a World Cup, Ashish Nehra winning a Championship (IPL 2022) and taking his side to the final after winning a Championship, Chandrakant Pandit winning the Championship the year before.

There was a time when India also had overseas coaches. But if you look at it in recent times, we have consciously as a board moved towards Indian coaches and we've had good results. There's enough evidence to say that we as Indian coaches can do a job and there's obviously something that people are seeing in Indian coaches now. People are recognising and understanding that we could do a job. We are entities who now can be global coaches and we could be on par with the overseas coaches who have been having a lot of impact with coaching over the years.

What does it mean for Indian coaches now coming through the ranks in terms of skill set?

I think it's to be humble enough to go back to ground zero and recognise that your cricket credentials have nothing to do with coaching. You can to some extent bring in your exposure and experience of your own learnings and mistakes and successes. But you have to understand that you are not the centre of attraction. You are not the masterpiece, you are just a complimentary accessory to the machinery. Your job is to be there for your players and put aside your ego. Your job is to not think of yourself as an Indian coach or an Indian player who has played for the national side and go into the coaching structure with that headspace. That will never work. You have to be as hardworking as you can, diligent to the point of helping out any player on your side. Every player has a certain requirement. And your job is to try and ensure that you look after them and take care of them as your children.

An Indian coach taking up the top job of England or Australia - is that a possibility in the near future?

There is one of them who has already been a part of the system for a while, (Sridharan) Sriram (as a consultant and spin-bowling coach) and he has been very quiet about it. So if we have been successful enough to get into an environment which has not had overseas coaches for a while - or at least, let me put it this way, Indian coaches for a while - but you had one of them being a part of a side, I don't think the day is far where an Indian coach should coach an overseas side. It's just a professional job.

It's as professional as a Baz (Brendon McCullum) coaching England, or Trevor Bayliss coaching England earlier...even Daniel Vettori being a part of the national setup in Australia. So it's not far. And we have had overseas coaches. It's a global world and a global market. If you apply your trade well and are good at it, it doesn't matter where you are from. There is now more and more space for recognition, and more and more opportunities for coaches all over the world to showcase themselves. But the bottom line is, you have to put in your work. You may get a job to start with but if you don't show results, it's a very tough market. It's a very tough place where you will be shown the door.

From your experiences overseas, is there a barrier that an Indian coach needs to overcome to marry his ideas into what is required there?

You really can't have the superstar culture as a coach. If you have been a superstar in your playing days, you really can't take that forward and say, 'I can be a superstar coach.' It doesn't work. I speak of this for all the coaches in the world and I think the best coaches in the world will say the same thing - your job is to complement the players. Your job is to try and be there for them. It's basically, how humble would you be to your child? You would literally do anything for your child, and that's the way I see it. You have to try and ensure that you are doing anything and everything in their best interest. Be it from India, be it from Australia, be it many parts of the world, you have to have that mindset as a coach.

What changes between leagues even as you coach teams under the same franchise roof?

I think the first and foremost important thing is to build the trust between the coach and the player. Once you are able to do that, then it becomes a lot easier. And there is one thing which is communication, which luckily I am blessed to speak four or five languages, which is essential for a coach. More so when you are working in India where you have people from the south of India, I can speak Tamil. I am a Gujarati, so I can even speak to people from that part of the world. I can speak Hindi, I can speak English to manage the overseas players.

So communication is key. And if you are able to communicate clearly and have a transparent conversation with your players, whichever part of the world they are, it becomes a lot easier. So it is important that the first five, ten days you are able to break that ice and build trust and the confidence of the player. That pretty much is the basic crux of coaching and coaching successfully.

But what is the difference between, say, coaching Axar Patel at Delhi Capitals and coaching Tristan Stubbs in the SA20?

Not much, to be honest. It is all about building trust and making sure that the player respects you and understands you. And understands why you are passing all that information to him. And once he is comfortable and he is able to have the confidence in what you are saying, it becomes easier. There is a chance that these players play so many leagues that they may come and go and do what they feel like because they may not have the confidence in what you are saying. But once they have the confidence that Hemang is giving them the right inputs and there is merit to what he is saying, he does not have to necessarily take in everything.

But at least if he is able to listen in and give it a thought, that at least builds a rapport with each other and it also becomes easier for us to have a conversation. So he can always come back to me and say, 'Coach, you said this, but I want to understand why.' The minute he starts doing that, I know I have built the trust. Which basically means that he at least has the confidence to come and talk to me and have a healthy conversation. Once you have done that, you have almost kind of broken into his comfort zone and he is open enough to accept what you are saying.

Do you see an evolution plan now for coaches by IPL franchises?

I would presume so. The franchises would look at coaches to gradually get to the top job. And also, maybe have them doing multiple roles in different leagues. When you're comfortable with someone and if you feel that that coach is doing a good job, what stops you from employing him in two or three places? Or if not, even more. It just becomes a lot more seamless for you to be able to work with that coach. Also, working with the management is a lot easier because he also had the experience of working with them prior to this. So I do see that happening in the future.

What do you think the landscape of coaching will look like for an Indian professional trying to make it to the top job ten years from now?

I genuinely feel we are here to stay. We will have many Indians coaching in overseas leagues and see them doing a good job. The market is open to any overseas coach now. There was more of a case where people used to lean towards Australians, New Zealanders, Englishmen and South Africans as part of the coaching staff. But if you see in recent times, we've had Sri Lankans coaching elsewhere, we've had Indians coaching outside. There's a lot more influx of Asians also now in the overseas market. I was approached by a couple of national teams to do consultation work for the World Cup since I was in India. But I did not take that offer purely because I was working towards Southern Brave and the IPL. It's just to tell you that there is a place for Indian coaches as well.

(With inputs from Aadya Sharma)