Vijay Dahiya named Delhi head coach for 2026-27 season

Vijay Dahiya was appointed head coach of the Delhi men’s senior team on Friday for the 2026-27 domestic season. He replaces Sarandeep Singh in the role.

The 53-year-old, who featured in two Tests and 19 ODIs for India, retired in 2006 and has had multiple stints as Delhi’s coach. It was during his first tenure that Delhi last won the Ranji Trophy, in the 2007-08 season. Since then the side’s best result has been a runner-up finish in the 2017-18 campaign, and while the team has seven Ranji titles it hasn’t lived up to its illustrious history in recent years.

Dahiya will hope to put his experience to good use and resurrect Delhi’s standing. His support staff will include former pacers Parvinder Awana and Sanjeev Sharma as bowling coaches. Kshitiz Sharma and Kuldeep Rawat have been named assistant coaches, and Rajkumar Sharma, who is renowned as Virat Kohli’s childhood coach, has been given the role of mentor for the season.

The selection committee will be headed by K.P. Bhaskar. The three-member panel also comprises Manu Nayar and Praveen Gupta.

Delhi will begin its Ranji season with a Group-C duel against Bengal from October 11. The match is the opening fixture of Delhi’s 2026-27 domestic campaign.