IPL 2019 | Samuel Badree brought in as spin coach for Delhi Capitals
Windies legspinner Samuel Badree has been roped in as the spin coach for the Delhi Capitals squad for the ongoing 2019 season of the Indian Premier League. Badree, a level three coach, is set to become the first West Indian cricketer to be appointed as a coach in the cash-rich IPL.
Delhi Capitals showed great promise in their opening match at the Wankhede Stadium to pull off a memorable win against Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians. However, the Shreyas-Iyer captained Capitals’ fell to a disappointing loss on home turf against defending champions Chennai Super Kings.
The game could have gone either way that night but the home team’s spinners failed to pick important wickets at crucial intervals during the match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium earlier this week.
Badree will be working with former Australian Test player Ricky Ponting, who is the head coach at the franchise. Badree has played in five IPL seasons dating back to 2013. The Windies leg spinner first played for Rajasthan Royals and then moved to Chennai where he played for two years. Badree also represented Royal Challengers Bangalore for two seasons towards the end of his IPL career - in 2016 and 2017.
"I have not retired from international cricket. I have coached before at the Australian Academy so this is my second stint as coach and I am really looking forward to it. I am very proud of being the first West Indian to coach at the IPL and also to be a spinner and get a job as a spin bowling coach in India is also big to me.
"I intend to do the best that I can do to lift the franchise and I am keen to see how this transition from player to coach works out. I have never coached at a high level here in the Caribbean so I am looking forward to learning a lot and contributing a lot to the Delhi set up," Badree told Trinidad & Tobago Trident.
Badree has played a total of 197 T20 matches across all leagues and has taken 187 wickets at an average of 22.16 and an economy rate of 6.02. Badree will coach as many as three wrist spinners in the Delhi squad - Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane and Rahul Tewatia. He will join Ricky Ponting (head coach), Mohammad Kaif (batting coach), Pravin Amre (talent scouts) and James Hopes (fast bowling coach) in the support staff.
