Former Ireland all-rounder John Mooney has been appointed as a fielding coach of Delhi Capitals for the upcoming IPL 2026 season. He becomes the first person from the country to be land an IPL coaching gig.
Mooney takes over the duties from Anton Roux, who served in the role last season along with Gnaneswara Rao. Rao will continue in his capacity as a 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.
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Mooney brings a wealth of coaching experience, having previously helped Afghanistan sharpen their fielding skills 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 a temporary coach for the Ireland women’s team earlier last year.
During his heydays, Mooney was a left‑hand batter and right‑arm fast bowler, and represented Ireland in 64 ODIs and 27 T20Is between 2006 and 2015. He featured in three ODI World Cups (2007, 2011 and 2015) and two T20 World Cups (2009 and 2010) for his nation.
After bidding adieu to international cricket in 2015, Mooney completed Level 1, 2 and 3 coaching certifications from the England and Wales Cricket Board. While Delhi Capitals are yet to win the IPL, they have made the playoffs three times since IPL 2019.
