Ahead of the 2026 season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), former India cricketer Anagha Deshpande has joined three-time runners-up Delhi Capitals (DC) as an assistant coach.
Anagha’s coaching responsibilities will focus on fielding and batting within the DC setup. “Yes, I am joining the Delhi Capitals. It was finalised a few days ago. Hundred percent, it’s a great opportunity for me. I will get to learn a lot of things which will aid me in future. I have seen them try for winning a trophy for three years. I hope I can help them win the trophy this time,” Anagha stated.
At DC, Anagha will work alongside head coach Jonathan Batty. Her appointment follows the departure of Lisa Keightley, who has joined Mumbai Inddigihunt as head coach, and Milap Mewada, who is now coaching Goa’s men’s team in the ongoing domestic season.
Anagha played 23 ODIs and eight T20Is for India between 2008 and 2014, accumulating 483 runs across both formats. As a wicketkeeper, she took 16 catches and executed 21 stumpings in white-ball cricket for India. In domestic cricket, she represented Maharashtra, Railways, Gujarat, and Puducherry.
Since retiring as a player, Anagha has achieved notable success as a coach in Uttarakhand. She led the state’s U19 women’s team to one-day trophy titles in 2021/22 and 2022/23, while guiding the U23 side to knockout stages in T20 and one-day championships in 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Under Anagha’s leadership, Uttarakhand reached their first senior women’s finals in both T20 and one-day formats in 2023/24. Players like Nandini Kashyap, Raghvi Bist, and Prema Rawat, all of whom participated in this year’s WPL and India A teams, credit their growth to Anagha’s coaching.
She has also coached various senior and U19 women’s challenger trophies and has taken part in different assignments at zonal and national levels for camps organized by the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE).
DC will kick off their 2026 WPL campaign on January 10 against defending champions Mumbai Inddigihunt at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Recently, India batter Jemimah Rodrigues was appointed as DC’s new captain, a decision backed by Anagha. “I have seen her leadership. She is well deserving to be the captain. I have seen her lead Mumbai. The way her nature is in terms of leading a team, there is no need for a tag to say that she is a leader. She plays in the same way as a player and now that she has a leadership tag, she is hundred percent well deserving of it,” she remarked.
Additionally, it is understood that former India captain Anju Jain is likely to be appointed as DC’s batting coach. Anju played eight Tests and 65 ODIs for India from 1993 to 2005, scoring a total of 2,170 runs.
In Tests, she notched up one century and three fifties, while taking 15 catches and effecting eight stumpings. In ODIs, she contributed with 30 catches and 51 stumpings.
Anju previously served as assistant coach of UP Warriorz (UPW) in the first two seasons of the WPL and was the head coach of Tornadoes at the FairBreak Global Invitational tournament. She has also coached the Indian team and held the position of chairman of the women’s selection committee.
Furthermore, Anju has been the head coach of the Bangladesh women’s team and worked in the same capacity with Odisha, Vidarbha, Assam, Tripura, and Baroda teams in the domestic circuit.