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Delhi Capitals are hoping for a better run in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) after failing to qualify for the playoffs last season. The capital-based side are fifth in the table but have failed to take the lead in the league.
They finished the season with seven wins from 14 games. Delhi Capitals have hired former England batsman Ian Bell as assistant coach ahead of the new season. The team confirmed the development on Tuesday (February 10).
Delhi Capitals’ current coaching staff includes director of cricket Venugopal Rao, head coach Hemang Badani and bowling coach Munaf Patel. Australian player Matthew Mott served as the assistant coach of the Delhi-based outfit last year. Since the team failed to qualify for the playoffs, management decided to replace Moats with Bell.
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Ian Bell had a brilliant career in international cricket in England. He represented England in 118 Tests, 161 ODIs and 8 T20Is. He scored over 13,000 runs across formats with the help of 26 centuries and 82 half-centuries.
Since retiring as a player, Bell has been very active in coaching circles. He has previously worked with the England Lions and the Under-19 side. In 2024, he served as batting coach during Sri Lanka’s tour of England. As well as being assistant coach of the Birmingham Phoenix men’s centurions, he also briefly worked for New Zealand.
Delhi Capitals’ strong squad for IPL 2026:
Delhi Capitals do have a very strong squad for IPL 2026 and they will grab the opportunity this year. They will be one of the strong contenders to qualify for the playoffs this year. They have most of their bases covered and will be keen to put in a strong showing in their first IPL title bid.
Indian star Axar Patel will lead the team this season. Other big names in the team include KL Rahul, Tristan Stubbs, Kuldeep Yadav and Mitchell Starc.
After last season, they brought in Nitish Rana from Rajasthan Royals and then strengthened their lineup in the mini-auction. Delhi Capitals have signed highly-rated Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi Dar while also recruiting Sri Lanka star Pathum Nissanka, England’s Ben Duckett, South Africa duo David Miller and Lungi Ngidi and their former opener Prithvi Shaw.
Delhi Capitals line-up:
Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana, Auqib Nabi Dal, Pathum Nissankar, Ben Duckett, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Palach, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson.
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