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When former India captain Sourav Ganguly took over as head coach of Delhi Capitals (DC) earlier this month, he referred to the strong core of players the franchise has, including Mitchell Starc. While the Australian left-arm pacer did not play more than half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Ganguly was banking on Starc’s availability for IPL 2027. But with nearly a month left for the deadline to announce the list of retained players, the DC management may have a headache as Starc may opt to skip IPL 2027 due to a packed international calendar.
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As per a report by Australia’s Code Sports, Starc is undecided on his participation in the IPL 2027. The next edition of the world’s biggest T20 franchise league may clash or start close to the Melbourne Cricket Ground's (MCG) 150th anniversary Test, which will be played from March 11 to 15.
"I've had a few discussions. Nothing's concrete as yet," Starc confirmed.
Starc has always considered Test cricket more important than white-ball or franchise cricket. He has already retired from T20Is to prolong his red-ball career. Before returning in IPL 2024 in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) jersey, he had missed eight years of IPL action to focus on international cricket despite huge demand for Aussie pacers in the league.
Just after the IPL 2027, the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 final will be played from June 9 to 13 at The Oval, London. Pat Cummins-led Australia are currently placed at the top of the WTC standings and have a good chance of making it to their third consecutive WTC final. And then, the WTC final will be followed by Ashes 2027, which begins on June 18. In order to manage his workload, Starc may opt out of IPL 2027.
Before Starc, skipper Cummins had said that he may skip IPL to focus on international cricket. Similar to Starc, Cummins had missed several games in this year’s edition of IPL as well.
McDonald trusts players to make the call
Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald addressed the talk around players' commitment to franchise cricket and national duty. He says the IPL has helped improve the performances of their players, but they have to manage their workload as well. He has left the decision to players.
"I know people will start talking about the IPL and filling that time. The IPL is part of our management plan for a lot of our players, and to expose our best players in what I believe is the best competition in terms of T20 cricket has its performance benefits as well. You've just got to balance that out," McDonald said.
“Country versus franchise and all that... the important part of this period is that we're allowing our fast bowlers to reset their body, get everything in order to give themselves the best opportunity across the 20 or 21 games that everyone talks about," he added.
Even after the Ashes 2027, which concludes on August 2, players will have a few weeks to get ready for their ODI World Cup 2027 opening clash against India. Understandably, they are likely to play a few ODIs leading up to the tournament as well. This would result in Australia rotating their fast bowlers during the Ashes depending on their situation in the series.
Will Australian players face a ban for pulling out of IPL 2027?
Starc, Cummins or any other Australian player won’t face an IPL ban like England’s Harry Brook and Ben Duckett if they inform their respective franchise about their decision before the retention deadline. In case they’re released by the franchises and put their name in the mini-auction and then choose to opt out for IPL 2027, they will face a ban.
What would DC do?
If Starc decides to leave, DC will need a premier overseas fast bowler to join the side. This may lead to them shelling out a huge sum in the mini-auction. The Aussie left-arm pacer was roped in for Rs 11.75 crore.
He had played 17 games for DC and claimed 11 wickets at an average of 23.60, including a fifer and a four-fer. His economy rate was just over 10 runs per over.
DC make big moves ahead of mini-auction
In addition to appointing Ganguly head coach, they have roped in Yuvraj Singh as their batting coach. DC have also completed two player trades. Their first move was to get the services of Rishabh Pant for Rs 15 crore. They traded left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Earlier this week, they traded left-arm pacer T Natarajan to his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari. SRH got Natarajan for Rs 5 crore, whereas DC acquired Ansari’s services for Rs 40 lakh.
After the trades, DC will have Rs 8.95 crore in the purse ahead of the retention deadline. Roping in Natarajan for a huge sum of Rs 11.75 crore did not work out for them. In two seasons, he played 12 games for them, bagging just five wickets at an average of 81. His economy rate went as high as 11.62 runs per over. DC opted against retaining an ageing and injury-prone pacer. After trading Kuldeep, DC needed a leg-spinner in the side. He did not play a game in IPL 2026. He was highly rated by SRH skipper Cummins in IPL 2025 when he bagged six wickets in 10 games at an average of 55.50.
The deadline to announce the list of retained and released players is November 15. The mini-auction will take place in mid-December in Goa.
Delhi Capitals’ updated squad after two trades -
KL Rahul (wk), Sahil Parakh, Axar Patel (c), Rishabh Pant. Tristan Stubbs (overseas), David Miller (overseas), Madhav Tiwari, Abishek Porel, Tripurana Vijay, Lungi Ngidi (overseas), Mitchell Starc (overseas), Mukesh Kumar, Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Vipraj Nigam, Prithvi Shaw, Karun Nair, Dushmantha Chameera (overseas), Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson (overseas), Ajay Jadav Mandal, Pathum Nissanka (overseas), Auqib Nabi Dar, Rehan Ahmed (overseas), Zeeshan Ansari.
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