IPL 2026 – John Mooney appointed as Delhi Capitals fielding coach

March 28, 2026

Former Ireland all-rounder John Mooney has been appointed as a fielding coach of Delhi Capitals (DC) for the upcoming IPL 2026 season. He becomes the first person from Ireland to be part of an IPL franchise’s coaching staff.

Mooney takes over from Anton Roux, who served in the role alongside Gnaneswara Rao last season. Rao will continue as fielding coach as Mooney joins a support team led by head coach Hemang Badani, with Munaf Patel as bowling coach, Ian Bell as assistant coach, and Venugopal Rao as director of cricket.

Mooney brings a wealth of coaching experience, having previously served as fielding coach for Afghanistan from 2018 to 2019, a period that included the team’s historic Test debut in India. He also worked with the West Indies men’s team in 2019 and was an interim coach for the Ireland women’s team earlier last year.

During his playing days, Mooney was a left-arm batsman and right-arm fast bowler, representing Ireland in 64 ODIs and 27 T20Is between 2006 and 2015. He has featured in three ODIs (2007, 2011 and 2015) and two T20 World Cups and 20109 (20109).

After retiring from international cricket in 2015, Mooney completed Level 1, 2 and 3 coaching certifications from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

While DC are yet to win the IPL, they have made it to the playoffs three times since IPL 2019.