England former batsman Kevin Petersen will be the mentor of Delhi Capitals season oh IPL 2025

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. The franchise, which made the announcement on its app, is yet to name a captain for the upcoming season. 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." Since 2009, Pietersen had played for three IPL teams, including Delhi (then Daredevils), for five seasons. He had even captained 17 times. After leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru briefly in IPL 2009, he captained Daredevils during a full season in 2014, when they finished at the bottom of the table with two wins in 14 games. Pietersen also captained England across 15 internationals, including a two-match Test series in India in 2008. Pietersen has maintained a personal relationship with Kiran Kumar Grandhi, chairman of GMR, the DC franchise's co-owners, ever since he was captain of Delhi in the 2014 Indian Premier League. In September last year, Pietersen had helped broker a landmark deal between GMR and Hampshire county cricket club. Pietersen and Grandhi also attended England's T20I against Australia at the Utilita Bowl together in 2024. "I've got amazing memories of playing for the Delhi franchise in the Indian Premier League, and I've been able to keep that love for the team even as a broadcaster. 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." Outside of the IPL, Pietersen has featured in the Big Bash League (BBL), Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Overall, he played 200 T20s, scoring 5695 runs at an average of 33.89 and strike rate of just under 137. After letting go of most of their big-ticket players and keeping only Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abishek Porel, DC, who have only ever reached the IPL final once, finished sixth in IPL 2024 and went into the auction with the largest purse of all ten teams. They then bolstered their roster with superstars like KL Rahul, Harry Brook, Faf du Plessis, and Mitchell Starc. Their Indian support staff - Badani, Rao and Munaf - had recently coached Dubai Capitals to the ILT20 title, the first trophy won by a Capitals side in men's or women's tournaments anywhere in the world.