Starc's IPL 2026 debut, finally: a struggling Delhi face surging Rajasthan in Jaipur
Mitchell Starc is set to make his Delhi Capitals debut on Friday night, more than a month after the original plan, as a struggling Capitals side travels to Jaipur to face Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The 7:30 PM start carries the kind of weight only a half-functional table can produce. Rajasthan are fourth on 12 points, Delhi are seventh on six, and Axar Patel's side have just been bowled out for 75.
Starc's long route back
The Australian left-arm quick was meant to be the spearhead of Delhi's bowling attack from the start of IPL 2026. He never made it. A shoulder and elbow problem sustained during the Big Bash League kept him out of the first five weeks of the IPL. Cricket Australia cleared him on April 23, and Delhi confirmed his arrival in their camp before tonight's fixture in Jaipur.
He has not bowled a competitive over since January. Delhi will manage his workload, but in a season where Lungi Ngidi has been their leading wicket-taker and Starc, retained for 11.75 crore, has been on the physio's bench, getting a couple of overs of left-arm pace at the death is enough to count as a win.
Sooryavanshi at home, again
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is back at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, where his 36-ball century against Sunrisers Hyderabad last week reduced one of the IPL's better attacks to a footnote. The 15-year-old leads the Orange Cap race with 400 runs in nine matches, a century and two fifties to his name and three of the four fastest fifties of IPL 2026 already in his column. Jofra Archer leads the Royals' bowling with 14 wickets at an economy of 8.27, having already moved past Shane Watson to become Rajasthan's all-time leading wicket-taker.
Riyan Parag's side beat Punjab Kings at Mullanpur in their last outing, the first defeat the unbeaten table-toppers had taken all season. Donovan Ferreira's 26-ball 52 finished off the chase. The momentum is real and on a pitch that has been good for batting through this IPL, the Royals have built up the kind of confidence Delhi cannot match right now.
Delhi need this one and they need it badly
Three losses in a row, the most recent a 75 all out at the Kotla against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, have moved Axar Patel's side from a playoff lock to an outside hope. KL Rahul is doing his job. He is third on the run charts with 358 runs at 51.14, a 185.49 strike rate, and a 152 not out off 67 balls against Punjab that became the highest individual IPL score by an Indian. The rest of the lineup has not given him support.
Spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have seven wickets each, and on a Jaipur surface that has produced runs and quick outfield boundaries this season, they will need to slow the Royals down through the middle overs. Dew is expected, which is why both captains are likely to want to chase. The toss matters tonight.
The two clubs have met 30 times in the IPL. Each side has won 15. With Rajasthan playing as well as anyone in the competition and Delhi looking for a base to climb back from, neither side will be settling for a quiet evening in Jaipur.
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