Former Ireland all-rounder John Mooney has been named the new fielding coach of Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2026 season. His appointment makes him the first Irish representative to join the coaching staff of an IPL franchise.
Mooney succeeds Gnaneswara Rao and Anton Roux, who handled fielding duties last season. He will be part of a support unit led by head coach Hemang Badani, with Munaf Patel serving as bowling coach, Ian Bell as assistant coach, and Venugopal Rao overseeing operations as director of cricket.
The former international brings considerable experience in coaching roles. He worked as Afghanistan’s fielding coach between 2018 and 2019, a tenure that included the side’s historic Test debut in India. Mooney also spent time with the West Indies men’s team in 2019 and briefly served as a coach for the Ireland women’s side earlier last year.
During his playing career, Mooney was a left-handed batter and right-arm fast bowler who represented Ireland in 64 ODIs and 27 T20Is from 2006 to 2015. He featured in three ODI World Cups — in 2007, 2011 and 2015 — and played in two T20 World Cups in 2009 and 2010.
Following his retirement from international cricket in 2015, he completed Levels 1, 2 and 3 coaching qualifications through the England and Wales Cricket Board.
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Delhi Capitals, still seeking their maiden IPL title, ended last season in fifth place on the points table and narrowly missed out on a playoff berth.
