Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has been appointed Delhi Capitals’ mentor for IPL 2025. The 44-year-old will join Hemang Badani (head coach), Matthew Mott (assistant coach), Munaf Patel (bowling coach), and Venugopal Rao (director of cricket) in the DC backroom.
This will be Pietersen’s first coaching assignment in the IPL. He last played in the league in 2016. “It’s an exciting opportunity to step into this new role as a mentor for the Capitals,” he said in a DC press release. “And I’m really looking forward to joining the squad, working closely with the boys, and doing everything I can to help us win that ultimate prize.”
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Pietersen played for three IPL franchises for five seasons from 2009, including Delhi (then called Daredevils), and had even captained 17 times. Since captaining Delhi in IPL 2014, Pietersen has maintained a personal relationship with Kiran Kumar Grandhi, chairman of GMR, the co-owners of the DC franchise. He helped broker a deal that saw the GMR group acquire Hampshire County in October 2024.
“I’ve got incredible memories of representing the Delhi franchise in the IPL, and I’ve been able to maintain that passion for the team even as a broadcaster over the years. I shared the field with Venu (Venugopal Rao) during the 2012 season, and it’s great to be reconnecting with him as we begin a new chapter at this amazing franchise,” he said.
Outside of the IPL, Pietersen has featured in the Big Bash League (BBL), Pakistan Super League (PSL), and Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The franchise, which made the announcement on its app, is yet to name a captain for the upcoming season after Rishabh Pant parted ways with the side.
Delhi Capitals have made just one final in the 17 seasons of the IPL. They will begin their quest for a maiden IPL title with a clash against their former skipper Rishabh Pant’s new team, Lucknow Super Giants, on March 24.
After finishing sixth in IPL 2024, DC went into the auction last year with the biggest purse among all the 10 teams after letting go of most of their big-ticket players and retaining only Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel. They then added star players, including KL Rahul, Harry Brook, Faf du Plessis, and Mitchell Starc, to their roster.
