Delhi Capitals appoint former Ireland star as new fielding coach for IPL 2026⁩

The new fielding coach has replaced Anton Roux and Gnaneswara Rao at the Delhi Capitals.

The 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is scheduled to commence on Saturday, March 28. The opening game of the season will be played between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Capitals will face the Lucknow Super Giants on April 1, in their first game of the 2026 season. Later, they will host the Mumbai Indians and the Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 4 and April 8, respectively, before they travel to the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium to face the Chennai Super Kings on April 11.

While Axar Patel will be leading the club for the second consecutive season, KL Rahul is set to play as the opening batter.

The Capitals’ line-up looks strong on paper, as they also purchased the likes of Ben Duckett, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Auqib Nabi, and more during the mini-auction, making them the underdogs in their pursuit of a maiden IPL triumph. Apart from a few changes in the playing line-up, the Capitals have also made changes to their coaching staff.

DC announce former Ireland all-rounder John Mooney as fielding coach

Former Irish all-rounder John Mooney has joined the Delhi Capitals as their new fielding coach for IPL 2026. The Irishman has been appointed in the place of Anton Roux and Gnaneswara Rao, who served as the fielding coaches last season.

Mooney has considerable experience working with international teams. He previously worked with the West Indies and Afghanistan cricket teams. He was a part of Afghanistan’s coaching staff during the last Asia Cup.

Meanwhile, John Mooney played 64 ODIs and 27 T20Is for Ireland in his professional career, scoring more than 1000 runs and picking up 50+ wickets. Mooney also played a key role in Ireland’s memorable victory over England in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, scoring 33 runs and taking 4 wickets.

The 44-year-old will join the Capitals’ coaching staff, headed by Hemang Badani. While Munaf Patel is the current bowling coach, former English batsman Ian Bell serves as assistant coach, and Venugopal Rao serves as director of cricket.

Earlier this month, Kevin Pietersen stepped down as Delhi Capitals’ mentor ahead of the IPL 2026. He was named the team’s mentor last season.

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