Former World Cup Winners Likely to Join Delhi Capitals – News18

The Delhi Capitals have pressed the reset button as far as the backroom staff is concerned and are in the process of finalising India cricketers for coaching roles.

It is understood that the top brass is already in conversation with two former World Cup winners and the current Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly is highly unlikely to double up as the head coach for the 2025 edition.

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The franchise is keen on having a more hands-on head coach who follows both international and domestic cricket very aggressively. Citing the example of Gautam Gambhir, a well-placed source says the franchise wants a head coach who digs deep and is looking at a stable coaching set-up.

“Ganguly already has a lot of things on his plate – planning multiple things for the franchise as the Director of Cricket. The team needs a very hands-on coach who follows the circuit very aggressively. Like Gautam Gambhir does. It’s no surprise that he has been so successful as a mentor.

“He keeps track of players – both international and domestic. The management doesn’t want a stop-gap arrangement for the head coach position as it’s the season right after the mega auction as the new cycle gets underway,” says a source close to developments.

The decision to end ties with Ponting was taken last month and now the focus is likely to shift to the scouting team after the backroom staff is finalised. Delhi Capitals are in desperate need of a scouting team overhaul and established names are likely to replace the existing lot.

No decision has been taken in this regard but a discussion is likely when the owners meet after the ongoing season of Major League Cricket ends.

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“The only person who had played some sort of cricket in the scouting team was Jagrit Anand (white-ball games for Delhi). After he was let go, the remaining two Shyantanu Chokhani and Adhishwar haven’t played any serious cricket. And no wonder the returns of the scouting team have been very underwhelming. Is there one cricketer who comes to mind which was unearthed by the scouting team? No,” adds the source.

Ponting was in charge of the franchise for seven seasons and they failed to win the title even once. The best outing under the Aussie was the 2020 edition where the franchise ended as runners-up after losing to Mumbai Indians in the title clash. An empty cabinet prompted the owners to look for a new head coach.

“As you move on as our head coach, we are finding it incredibly difficult to put it down in words. The four things that you told us about in every huddle — care, commitment, attitude and effort, sum up our seven years together,” DC posted on their official ‘X’ handle.

The next few weeks are going to be very interesting as DC look to fill in the crucial blanks before the mega auction.