Starc set to miss three more Delhi Capitals matches as shoulder rehab drags on
Delhi Capitals will have to wait a while longer for their marquee overseas signing. Mitchell Starc, the left-arm quick who was retained by the franchise ahead of IPL 2026, is now unlikely to link up with the squad before April 20, which would push his IPL 2026 debut past three more matches.
Starc is rehabilitating in Australia after a combined shoulder and elbow issue that flared up during the home Ashes summer. The full extent of the injury, he has said publicly, only became clear after the Test series ended. Delhi had hoped he would arrive early in April, but the latest indication from the franchise is that the recovery programme still has a couple of weeks to run.
The games Delhi will play without him
The timing is awkward. Axar Patel’s side travel back to the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday to host Gujarat Titans with Starc still absent. After that comes a trip to Chennai Super Kings on April 11 and an away fixture against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 18. If the new return window holds, the clash with RCB would be the last match he misses.
Delhi have started the season in good shape without him, winning their opening two games and sitting near the top of the table. Axar has leaned on a mix of domestic pacers and the Indian spin attack, and the batting unit has done the rest. Still, the absence of a new-ball specialist of Starc’s calibre is not the sort of luxury any IPL coach wants to carry into the business end of the league.
What Starc has said
The Australian has pushed back gently at the criticism that has started to build around the delay. “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,” Starc said in a statement. He added that he was committed to joining the Delhi group as soon as medical staff cleared him.
For a team that paid a premium for a proven left-arm option with the new ball, that clearance cannot come soon enough. A mid-April arrival would still give Delhi most of the second half of the group stage with Starc in the attack, which is the version of the plan the franchise will be pitching to supporters until then.
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