Hemang Badani with Ashutosh Sharma at DC | PC- X.com
Stephen Fleming's departure as Chennai Super Kings (CSK)'s head coach has opened up a void in the five-time champions' dressing room. After an eighth-place finish on the IPL 2026 points table, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side would need a new coach with a fresher set of ideas.
There are reports that the CSK management is in talks with the DC head coach, Hemang Badani, who is emerging as the front-runner for the job.
Moreover, Badani’s stint at DC may also come to an end as Sourav Ganguly is set to return to the coaching staff with JSW taking over control for the next two seasons.
In this article, we will discuss three DC players whom CSK can target, assuming Hemang Badani becomes Chennai's next head coach.
Three DC players whom CSK can target
Axar Patel
Axar Patel has had two mediocre seasons, both as a captain and a player. Neither did he do anything exceptional as a prime all-rounder in the side, nor did he do anything worthy as a skipper.
In the last seasons since taking over Delhi's reins, Axar racked up just 436 at 22.9 and took 16 wickets in 24 matches. These stats are nowhere close to Axar’s own standards.
With Rishabh Pant traded back home and KL Rahul in the arsenal, the Capitals may look past their skipper.
Also Read: Stephen Fleming Sacked By CSK, Breaks Silence After 18 Years
Although DC doesn’t have a specialist spinner after Kuldeep Yadav’s departure, they won’t shy from letting go of Axar Patel for bigger goods. Moreover, the all-rounder shares a healthy bond with Hemang Badani, who might get him a CSK deal.
Ashutosh Sharma
With MS Dhoni almost at the end of his career and Shivam Dube not performing too well, they are in genuine need of a reliable middle-order batter.
Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, CSK placed heavy bets on uncapped Kartik Sharma and Prashant Sharma, but neither of them can be looked at as a reliable middle-order product who can finish off the game on their own.
With DC having too many options, they might not look to retain the Railways batters. If Delhi doesn't go for Ashutosh, it would open a golden opportunity for Chennai, considering Hemang Badani switches to CSK.
T Natarajan
The five-time champions have been struggling to find a death-overs specialist since Dwayne Bravo’s retirement, on whom they can bank. Matheesha Pathirana came in and did the job for a couple of seasons, but the management decided to move on from him ahead of last season.
In IPL 2026, CSK had one of the worst bowling numbers in the 16-20-over phase. With the Capitals having the likes of Mitchell Starc and Lungi Ngidi, they can easily look to release T Natarajan, who could prove gold for the Super Kings.
Moreover, the Chennai boy would love playing seven home games at his beloved Chepauk.
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