Delhi Daredevils (DD) announced on Thursday the addition of former South African medium-pace bowler Alfonso Thomas to their squad as mentor to their pace bowlers.
Thomas is one of the best Twenty20 (T20) bowlers; he will be working with the Delhi Daredevils pacemen. He has agreed to join the squad on a short contract and will share his experience with all the pacers in their side.
Thomas is excited to join the Delhi squad and is equally happy to come back and rejoin the IPL as he had his last stint at the IPL with the Pune Warriors few years ago, but unfortunately the team was scrapped from the tournament and no other franchisee picked him up in the auctions.
"I have enjoyed my time as a player in the IPL. It is therefore very special for me to be working with Delhi Daredevils squad. When the call came through from Gary, I jumped at the opportunity. I am looking forward to share all that I have learnt. The squad has a number of experienced bowlers like Zaheer Khan and Albie Morkel, along side promising talents like Mohammed Shami, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Gurinder Sandhu. It is an exciting opportunity for me to work with this group," said Thomas in an interview with IPLT20.com.
Delhi daredevils head coach Gary kirsten said: "We are delighted to secure the services of Alfonso. His knowledge of bowling in T20 cricket is excellent. We are hopeful that he will share his experience and expertise with our group of young and experienced bowlers. We welcome him wholeheartedly to the group as we begin the journey for this season."
Thomas is still very much in this format of the game and has played 214 T20 games. He has 248 wickets in his kitty at an average of 21.56 with an economy rate of 7.41runs per over.
Delhi Daredevils face Chennai Super Kings in their first match in Chennai on 9 April and their first home match will be against Rajasthan Royals on 12 April.
