IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals appoint Ian Bell as new assistant coach

Delhi Capitals have named former England batter Ian Bell as their new assistant coach, the franchise announced the decision on their social media on Tuesday (Feb 10). The 43-year-old will be part of the coaching group led by head coach Hemang Badani and will work alongside assistant coach Matthew Mott and team mentor Kevin Pietersen. The support staff also includes director of cricket Venugopal Rao and bowling coach Munaf Patel. Bell’s main role will be to guide the team’s batters.

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Bell and Badani have already worked together before at Dubai Capitals in the ILT20, where they helped the team win the 2025 title.

Bell brings wide coaching experience, as he has worked with county side Derbyshire, England’s Under-19 team and coached in several leagues such as the Big Bash, The Hundred and the UAE’s T10 League. He was also Sri Lanka’s former batting coach during their 2024 tour of England and had a short stint with New Zealand in 2023 before the ODI World Cup.

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As a player, Bell represented England in 118 Tests, 161 ODIs and eight T20 Internationals. He also captained England at the Under-19 level and later coached junior England teams before moving to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In the last IPL season, the Capitals finished fifth with 15 points from 14 matches, falling short by just one point. Delhi began the season strongly with four straight wins but could not keep up the form, losing four of their final six games.