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Delhi Capitals have appointed Legendary Indian cricketer Munaf Patel as their new bowling coach ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The former player was a crucial part of India's 2011 ODI World Cup winning squad and has also won the cash-rich league before during his tenure as a player of Mumbai Indians. He will be joining head coach Hemang Badani and director of cricket Venugopal Rao in the team's backroom staff for the next season.
Following his retirement from competitive cricket in 2018, this will be Munaf's first high-profile coaching position. He has since participated in a few tournaments with retired cricket players. Prior to it, though, he established himself as a pacer who could produce reverse swing and yorkers. Munaf played with the Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2010, the Mumbai Indians from 2011 to 2013, and the Gujarat Lions from 2017 in addition to his 86 caps in three different formats during his 2006–2011 international career. With Mumbai, he won the 2013 IPL season.
Changes in DC's coaching staff
James Hopes, a former all-rounder for Australia, is replaced by Munaf. As part of an overhaul in July 2024, DC formally parted ties with Hopes and former head coach Ricky Ponting. Since then, they have concentrated on assembling a coaching staff that is largely composed of Indians.
DC has signed South African batter Tristan Stubbs, wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav, spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, and uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel as part of their preparations for the three-year IPL cycle and a major auction later this month. With the third-highest prize of INR 73 crore, they enter the auction on November 24 and 25 hoping to drastically boost their performance after missing out on the playoffs the previous three IPL seasons.
