{"id":1260,"date":"2026-02-11T11:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T05:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/?post_type=news&#038;p=1260"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:14:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T05:44:23","slug":"ian-bell-join-delhi-capitals-coaching-staff","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/news\/ian-bell-join-delhi-capitals-coaching-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Bell Join Delhi Capitals Coaching Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delhi Capitals have strengthened their coaching setup ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season by appointing former England batter Ian Bell as assistant coach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The franchise confirmed the development on Tuesday, marking Bell\u2019s first official role in the IPL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A veteran of 118 Tests and 161 ODIs, Bell brings significant international pedigree to the Delhi Capitals dressing room.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former right-hander scored 7,727 Test runs, including 22 centuries, and was regarded as one of England\u2019s most technically accomplished batters of his era.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since retiring from professional cricket in 2020, Bell has steadily built his coaching r\u00e9sum\u00e9 across international and franchise platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bell has worked closely with England\u2019s Lions and Under-19 sides, focusing on player development and grooming emerging talent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also served as <a href=\"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/news\/malinga-joins-sri-lanka-for-t20-world-cup\/\">Sri Lanka\u2019s batting coach<\/a> during their 2024 tour of England, gaining valuable exposure in a high-pressure Test environment. In 2023, he briefly joined New Zealand\u2019s support staff during their tour of England before the ODI World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His franchise experience includes a stint as assistant coach of Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Delhi Capitals, Bell will work under head coach Hemang Badani and alongside mentor Kevin Pietersen, director of cricket Venugopal Rao, and bowling coach Munaf Patel.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move follows a backroom reshuffle after IPL 2025, where the Capitals narrowly missed the playoffs, finishing fifth in the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite a promising start last season, Delhi Capitals lost momentum during the latter half of the campaign and fell short of a playoff berth by a single point.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The management\u2019s decision to bring in Bell reflects a strategic effort to add fresh tactical insight and international experience to the squad as they continue their pursuit of a maiden IPL title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bell\u2019s calm approach, technical expertise, and experience in mentoring young cricketers could prove crucial for Delhi\u2019s evolving core.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With IPL 2026 approaching, the Capitals appear focused on refining their support structure to ensure greater consistency and stronger performances in key phases of the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1263,"template":"","tags":[688,687],"ppma_author":[493],"class_list":["post-1260","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-delhi-capitals","tag-delhi-capitals-coaching-staff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}