DC have lost two home games in devastating fashion to PBKS and DC.
Following Delhi's humbling nine-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Monday, former India captain Kris Srikkanth unleashed a scathing attack against Badani. Srikkanth was enraged not only by the scoreboard but also by what he regarded as Badani's past attitude about Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming.
The disagreement stems from comments Badani made during an interview with former cricketer Yo Mahesh in 2025. Badani questioned Fleming's status as a "great" coach at the time, claiming that his success was solely due to MS Dhoni.
"If Fleming is such a big coach, why hasn't he won anywhere else apart from the IPL?" Badani had asked, pointing to Fleming's stints in the SA20, The Hundred, and the Big Bash League. CSK is winning because of Dhoni. Dhoni is the kingpin... if someone says Fleming is a good coach, I won't agree to it,” Badani had told Yo Mahesh on his YouTube channel.
With their huge loss to RCB, DC are now languishing in 7th place with just three wins from eight games, and this has given Srikkanth enough ammo to remind Badani of his past statements. Srikkanth urged that the DC coach focus on his own failing ship before criticizing others.
"On top of all this, Hemang Badani went after Stephen Fleming. Hey Hemang. First, take care of yourself before talking about others. I have always said this: 'In life, don't talk too much.' He spoke too much. Now, he has to shut up and watch stuff happening,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Srikkanth continued the onslaught, questioning Badani's own tactical acumen.
"Everybody is bringing this up and slamming him. Why talk about others? You should have been mindful of your job. Who are you to say Stephen Fleming won only because of MS Dhoni? What have you done? Anything special? Nothing,” he added.
DC had just failed to defend 264 runs against Punjab Kings, and now RCB bowled them out for 75 runs and defeated them by 9 wickets, with both matches played in Delhi.
At one point, the scoreboard read a bizarre 9 for 6, threatening the league's lowest total ever. Only a gritty 30 from Abishek Porel rescued them from complete humiliation, as RCB chased the goal in 6.3 overs.
Beyond the scoreline, Srikkanth criticized the management's decision-making. DC dropped Pathum Nissanka to give 18-year-old Sahil Parikh his debut, which backfired when Parikh took the strike first against Bhuvneshwar Kumar's world-class swing and was bowled on the second ball he faced.
"Why allow Sahil to take strike ahead of KL Rahul?" Srikkanth questioned.
DC is seemingly having a repeat of last year, when the team collapsed after winning four of their first five matches, eventually missing the playoffs. This season, they have 3 wins from 8 games, and a familiar sense of doom must be creeping into the DC minds.
DC will next face RR on May 1.