Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has been appointed as the mentor for Delhi Capitals (DC) for the upcoming Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL) season. With this Pietersen’s marks his first steps as a coaching assignment in the cash-rich tournament. The 44-year-old will be part of the DC staff, with Hemang Badani as the head coach, assistant coach Matthew Mott, bowling coach Munaf Patel, and Venugopal Rao as the director of cricket. The IPL franchise announced the news on its app but has yet to name a captain for the upcoming season.
Kevin Pietersen Expresses Excitement for the New Opportunity with DC
Ahead of his new IPL assignment, the English former cricketer Pietersen expressed his excitement. Speaking to IPL fans via a press release, Pietersen said,
“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.”
Notably, he has an elaborate history with the Delhi franchise, having played for the then called Daredevils for five seasons starting in 2009 and even captaining the team in 17 matches. He briefly led Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2009 and captained Daredevils for a full season in 2014, although the team finished at the bottom of the table that year. Pietersen also captained England in 15 international matches, including a Test series in India in 2008.
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Pietersen’s Remarkable Connections with Owners of the DC Franchise
Despite his captaincy record with Delhi in 2014, Pietersen has maintained a strong relationship with Kiran Kumar Grandhi, chairman of GMR, the co-owners of the DC franchise. Their connection extends beyond cricket, as Pietersen facilitated a deal between GMR and Hampshire county cricket club in September of last year.
Pietersen’s experience in T20 cricket is vast, having played in various leagues worldwide, including the Big Bash League (BBL), Pakistan Super League (PSL), and Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In his T20 career, he played 200 matches, scoring 5695 runs with an average of 33.89 and a strike rate close to 137.
Moreover, Delhi Capitals finished sixth in the 2024 IPL season. They entered the auction with the largest purse after releasing several high-profile players. They then added star players including KL Rahul, Harry Brook, Faf du Plessis and Mitchell Starc to their roster. The Indian members of their support staff, Badani, Rao, and Munaf, recently led Dubai Capitals to the ILT20 title, marking the first trophy for a Capitals side in any men’s or women’s tournament.
Delhi Capitals IPL 2025 Full Squad
Here’s a full list of players retained and bought by Delhi Capitals for the upcoming IPL season:
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Mitchell Starc (Rs. 11.75 crore), KL Rahul (Rs. 14 crore), Harry Brook (Rs. 6.25 crore), Jake Fraser-McGurk (Rs. 9 crore), T. Natarajan (Rs. 10.75 crore), Karun Nair (Rs. 50 lakh), Sameer Rizvi (Rs. 95 lakh), Ashutosh Sharma (Rs. 3.80 crore), Mohit Sharma (Rs. 2.20 crore), Faf du Plessis (Rs. 2 crore), Mukesh Kumar (Rs. 8 crore), Darshan Nalkande (Rs. 30 lakh), Vipraj Nigam (Rs. 50 lakh), Dushmantha Chameera (Rs. 75 lakh), Donovan Ferreira (Rs. 75 lakh), Ajay Mandal (Rs. 30 lakh), Manvanth Kumar (Rs. 30 lakh), Tripurana Vijay (Rs. 30 lakh), Madhav Tiwari (Rs. 40 lakh).
Note: Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel were retained before the IPL 2025 mega auction
DC who is yet to finalize a captain will play their first IPL 2025 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 24, at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam.