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Delhi Capitals (DC) will be without the services of their star Australian pacer Mitchell Starc for at least three more games in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Starc is nursing a shoulder injury. His rehabilitation may take at least a week.
As per a report by TOI, Starc is unlikely to join the DC camp till April 20. DC are scheduled to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 21. Starc may end up missing another DC clash after missing six already, meaning he will be unavailable for half the IPL 2026 league stage.
However, Starc will miss the clashes against Gujarat Titans (GT), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 8, 11 and 18 respectively.
DC are missing two overseas pacers in their lineup. Starc is injured whereas England opener Ben Duckett pulled out of the season to focus on his red-ball career in an attempt to retain a place in the Test side.
DC’s pace-bowling bench strength
However, DC have options in the pace attack. T Natarajan and Mukesh Kumar have bowled well. Mukesh has done the job with the new ball whereas Natarajan has been potent in the death overs. An in-form Lungi Ngidi has troubled the batters. Meanwhile, pacers Auqib Nabi Dar, Dushmantha Chameera and Kyle Jamieson are on the bench. In-form Jammu & Kashmir pacer Nabi is yet to make his IPL debut after bagging Rs 8.4 crore at the mini-auction.
When Starc put an end to speculations
Earlier, Starc had responded to criticism around him missing the IPL. While he apologised to DC fans, he revealed that he has been managing a shoulder injury.
"Despite the opinions and views of certain individuals with their platforms in and through the Indian media, I'm currently rehabbing and managing an injury in my shoulder and elbow, the extent of which I didn't know during the Australian summer. These individuals have made some strong statements around involvement in the IPL and provided heavily misinformed opinions of players, preached them as facts, and claimed to know my body better than me," Starc wrote in a statement.
"With that said, I do acknowledge this injury setback and that the timing is disruptive to the Delhi team, and I apologise for that and to the fans for not being available for the early part of this season. I remain committed to joining DC, am in continual communication with the team, and will continue to do what I can to be available for DC as soon as possible," he added.
Two wins in two games
DC won their campaign opener against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with six wickets to spare. At home, they beat five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets. Sameer Rizvi has been potent with the bat scoring half-centuries, holding the orange cap.
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