Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has stepped down as the mentor of Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of IPL 2026. In a social media post, Pietersen said that he will be unable to commit to the time that the job of a mentor requires.
He, however, confirmed that he would be returning as a commentator in the upcoming IPL season. “I cannot be a mentor for Delhi Capitals in this IPL season. I cannot commit to the time that the job requires.
“Best wishes to all the players for this season! However, I’ll see you back in the commentary box! IPL is the world’s best league and I can’t wait to see all of you soon!,” he wrote on micro-blogging platform “X”.
Kevin Pietersen’s impact as Delhi Capitals mentor
Pietersen was a mentor for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025, and he helped nurture young talent, most significantly Ashutosh Sharma. In Delhi Capitals’ first match of IPL 2025, the 27-year-old slammed an unbeaten 66 off just 31 balls in their match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
His knock helped Delhi Capitals chase down 210 with just one wicket to spare. Pietersen also had a good rapport with KL Rahul, who scored 539 runs from 13 matches last season.
The 45-year-old played for three franchises during his IPL career, and one of them was Delhi Capitals (Then called Delhi Daredevils). He played for Delhi Daredevils from 2012 to 2014.
He led the Delhi Daredevils in the 2014 season, but the team endured a disappointing run as they won just one out of 11 matches under his leadership. Delhi Daredevils finished that season in eighth and last place, with jusat four points to their name.
In IPL 2025, Delhi Capitals narrowly missed out on the playoffs after finishing in fifth place with 15 points. The Axar Patel-led side will begin their IPL 2026 campaign with a match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on 1 April.
They will then host Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT) on 4 April and 8 April respectively, before traveling to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 11 April.
The IPL Governing Council has announced the schedule of just the first 20 matches because of the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala.
