Kevin Pietersen Resigns as Mentor of Delhi Capitals Ahead of Indian Premier League 2026

The 19th season of the Indian Premier League will begin on March 28. Before that, Kevin Pietersen has resigned as the mentor of the Delhi Capitals. The 45-year-old cricketer said he would not be able to devote sufficient time to his role. However, he will feature in the commentary box for this season’s tournament. The Delhi Capitals had recruited Pietersen for IPL 2025 in February last year.

He had worked with the support staff too, including Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao, Head Coach Hemang Badani, Assistant Coach Matthew Mott, and Bowling Coach Munaf Patel.

Sharing this information on the social media platform (Twitter), the England great wrote, "I will not be able to mentor the Delhi Capitals this IPL season. I cannot devote the necessary time to this task. My best wishes to all the players for this season. However, I will see you all again in the commentary box. The IPL is the best league in the world. I look forward to seeing you all soon."

Kevin Pietersen played 104 Test matches in his international career, scoring 8,181 runs at an average of 47.28. He also scored 4,440 runs in 136 ODIs at an average of 40.73, and 831 runs in 37 T20Is at an average of 37.93.

The South African-born cricketer also captained England from 2008 to 2009. He was named Player of the Series in the 2010 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. His impressive performance helped England win its first ICC trophy. Pietersen played a total of 36 IPL matches, scoring 1,001 runs at an average of 37.07, including one century and four half-centuries.

On Wednesday, the BCCI released the schedule for the first phase of IPL 2026. This phase will be played from March 28 to April 12, with a total of 20 matches being held at 10 venues. The BCCI has said that due to upcoming assembly elections in three states, the complete schedule of the tournament will be released only after the election dates are announced.