New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) Ahead of the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has stepped down as mentor of the Delhi Capitals franchise, stating that he cannot commit the time the role requires. The 45-year-old, however, will be back in the commentary box in the cash-rich event.

DC had appointed Pietersen for the role in February last year, for the 2025 edition of the tournament, as he worked alongside the support staff, which included Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao, Head Coach Hemang Badani, Assistant Coach Matthew Mott and Bowling Coach Munaf Patel.

The England veteran took to X to share the news as he said, “I cannot be a mentor for Delhi Capitals in this IPL season. I can’t commit to the time that the job requires. Best wishes to all the players for this season! However, I’ll see you back in the commentary box! IPL is the world’s best league, and I can’t wait to see all of you soon!”

With experience in 200 T20s and 5,695 runs, Pietersen participated in 36 IPL matches, scoring 1001 runs with teams like Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Pune. The South African-born cricketer, who captained England from 2008 to 2009, was awarded Player of the Series in the 2010 ICC T20 World Cup, a performance that contributed to England’s first ICC trophy.

Throughout his distinguished international career, Pietersen participated in 104 Tests, accumulating 8,181 runs, and played 136 ODIs, totaling 4,440 runs.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the schedule for the first phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, to be played from March 28 to April 12, 2026.

“As three states are scheduled to undergo State Assembly elections during this period, the full schedule of the tournament will be announced once the poll dates are announced,” BCCI said in a statement.

The 19th edition of the biggest T20 league on the globe will commence with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

–IANS

vi/bc