Kamal Ghorui
Australia bowler Mitchell Starc has yet to join the Delhi Capitals camp and it’s learnt that the 36-year-old is likely to miss at least three more games for the franchise. Starc is managing a shoulder and elbow injury back home and is highly unlikely to join the squad till April 20. Before that, Delhi are scheduled to play three games – against Gujarat Titans on April 8, CSK on April 11 and RCB on April 18 – and will miss the services of the star bowler.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The DC think tank is optimistic on having Starc with them at some point in the season but timelines are unclear at this stage. In the left-armer’s absence, the Axar Patel-led unit has won both its games against the Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians, and the versatile bowling unit put up a strong show. Mukesh Kumar has been very penetrative with the new ball. Lungi Ngidi and T Narajan have been accurate in the tough overs and the spinners—Axar, Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam—have controlled the middle overs.Starc’s addition will only add significant bite to this potent attack, and the bowler remains in constant touch with the management. In a social media post last month, he revealed the nature of his injury and hit out at the “misinformed opinions of players.”“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.The bowler asserted that he is committed to joining the DC squad “as soon as possible”.“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.Delhi Capitals next take on Gujarat Titans at home on April 8 and will look to continue their unbeaten run in the tournament. Young batter Sameer Rizvi has aced two chases under pressure and the management would now hope the experienced batters around him step up and make substantial contributions. DC are one of the four unbeaten teams in the tournament and a win over GT will take them to top spot in the IPL 2026 points table.
