Delhi Capitals announce former England star and costliest 2009 player as mentor for IPL 2025

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, Delhi Capitals have announced Kevin Pietersen as their mentor for the upcoming season. The former England batter has notably played for the IPL franchise in the past.

Delhi Capitals made the exclusive announcement on Thursday, February 27, via the 'DC Fan Sabha' application.

Kevin Pietersen played for Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) in 2012 and 2014. In two seasons for the franchise, he scored 599 runs from 18 matches at a strike rate of 136.14. Pietersen has also played 104 Tests, 136 ODIs, and 37 T20Is for England in his international career.

Overall, the former English star played 36 matches in the IPL and scored 1,001 runs at an average of 37.07 and strike rate of 134.72 with one hundred and four half-centuries to his name. The newly appointed mentor of Delhi Capitals was also the costliest IPL player in 2009 when he was bought for $1.55 million by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

The franchise also posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) after the official announcement was made.

"Tell the world, KP is back home! ❤️💙," the post was captioned.

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Delhi Capitals aim for maiden IPL title in 2025 season

Delhi Capitals are among the teams who have never won the IPL title in the history of the tournament. They came close to winning the title in 2020 but lost in the final to the Mumbai Indians.

In IPL 2024, they finished sixth and failed to make the playoffs. In fact, they have failed to make the playoffs since the 2022 season.

The franchise has made several changes to its coaching staff. They named Hemang Badani as head coach ahead of the IPL 2025 season, with Venugopal Rao named as Director of Cricket. They also roped in former Indian cricketer and 2011 World Cup winner Munaf Patel as their bowling coach, with former India cricketer Vijay Bharadwaj serving as their talent scout.

Just recently, Delhi Capitals announced former England coach Matthew Mott as the assistant coach of the team. They have now announced Kevin Pietersen as their mentor, making him the latest addition to their coaching staff.