Following an eight-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026, Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani backed struggling wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, saying the team will continue to support him as he looks to regain form.
At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, DC’s spin attack could not match the control shown by CSK spinners, while Kuldeep had another tough outing, conceding 34 runs in three overs without picking up a wicket.
“We would ideally want Kuldeep to be better than this. But we will rally around him. He’s been somebody who’s been a part of this side for many, many years and has done well. I think he can turn this around,” said Badani in the post-match press conference.
Kuldeep, once a key figure in the middle overs for DC, has struggled this season. In IPL 2026, he has taken just seven wickets in 30 overs at an economy rate of 10.36, while also conceding the most sixes among spinners in the competition.
Badani said it was more about form than anything technical and expressed confidence that the spinner would bounce back soon. “I think it’s more the case of just about somebody’s striking form. He hasn’t struck peak form yet. He hasn’t bowled at the speeds that he would normally bowl. I think it’s a question of time.
“I mean, we have the faith in him. More than anything else, it’s crunch time for us. It’s quite simple for us. It’s more like a knockout tournament for us right now. We have to win 4 in 4 games and we still have a chance to qualify,” he added.
Badani also spoke about captain Axar Patel, whose batting form has dipped this season, though he has contributed with the ball.
“With Axar, I think it’s again a question of somebody who’s (trying to find form). There are people who have played cricket at the highest level – like he’s a double World Cup winner. You work with them and you give them faith. They have faith in themselves in the sense that they have played the game.
“They have figured out the ways and means of going through the grind, struggles and how you come back. They’ve done it all and I have the faith that he’ll come good. He’s had a wonderful time with the ball and those figures, I would take it on any given day,” added Badani.
Despite a brief fightback in the innings, DC were unable to defend their total, as Sanju Samson anchored the chase with a composed knock.
“It’s more the case that if we had put on about 20 more odd runs, Sanju would not have been able to pace the innings the way he did. He literally knew what he had to do. He just said, let me see off the best bowlers. The best bowlers were probably Ngidi and Axar on a surface like this and that’s pretty much what he did.
“So he was smart. But one can do that purely because when he’s seen 20 overs behind the stumps, and saw the surface and the balls closest as a wicketkeeper. Let’s not forget, he’s a class player. Sanju has been a class player for a while. There’s a reason he’s in the national side. There’s a reason he’s won the Man in the Series at the World Cup,” concluded Badani.