Former India wicketkeeper batsman Vijay Dahiya has been named Delhi chief coach for the upcoming domestic season. He takes over the reins from former India spinner Sarandeep Singh. This is the second time the 53-year-old has been handed the Delhi job.
Dahiya, who played two Tests and 19 ODIs and represented Delhi in domestic cricket, now has a big responsibility to revive the team. The last time Delhi reached the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy was long ago, in the 2017-18 season. In the same season, they reached the final but lost to Vidarbha. They were never exactly a force in red-ball cricket, but in recent years they have gone worse. Their last Ranji Trophy triumph came in the 2007-08 season. Guess who was Delhi’s coach that season. It was Dahiya!
In all, they have won India’s premier domestic tournament seven times and eight times they finished second.
White-ball cricket, too, has seen a dip. In 2017-18, they won the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the very next season, they reached the final of the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, where they came a cropper against Mumbai. Their last Vijay Hazare win came in the 2012-13 season.
So, there will be a lot of pressure on Dahiya to turn it around for Delhi. To make it worse for fans, Delhi’s representation in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals (previously Delhi Daredevils) have not done great either since the inception of the league. So it’s safe to say that fans are desperate for some trophies now.
Dahiya earlier this year was assistant coach at Gujarat Titans, and he served under former India pacer Ashish Nehra. The team finished as runners-up after they were beaten by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final at Ahmedabad. Previously, Dahiya also worked for Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Former India pacer Sanjeev Sharma and Parwinder Awana have been appointed as bowling coaches. Meanwhile, Kshitiz Sharma and Kuldeep Rawat have been named assistant coaches. On Friday, the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) released the names of the entire support staff across men’s and women’s cricket (senior as well as junior) for the 2026-27 season. KP Bhaskar is the chairperson of the selection committee, and he will be aided by Manu Nayar and Praveen Gupta.
Delhi kick off their 2026-27 Ranji Trophy Group C campaign on October 11 against Bengal at Kalyani. Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Services are the other teams in the group.
