Australian speedster Mitchell Starc has reportedly determined towards returning to India for the rest of the Indian Premier League, dealing a blow to his staff Delhi Capitals’ prospects of reaching the playoffs.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Starc has informed the franchise that he would not be rejoining the staff every week after being a part of the match in Dharamsala that was referred to as off attributable to safety causes following air raid alerts in close by areas.
The league was suspended subsequent day attributable to a navy showdown between India and Pakistan, solely for the BCCI to announce a resumption of the occasion from May 17 after getting vital clearances from the federal government following a ceasefire.
An integral a part of the Delhi Capitals setup, Starc is the staff’s highest wicket-taker to date this season with 14 scalps in 11 matches at 26.14, and his absence shall be positively felt of their upcoming matches as they search to enter the playoffs.
Starc’s spouse and Australia girls’s staff captain Alyssa Healy lately shared a gripping account of the night time of “complete madness” when the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was referred to as off halfway in Dharamsala.
“Couple of the light towers went out and we were just there waiting. I heard a rumour a couple of seats down that we might have to evacuate the stadium cause the lights gone down,” Healy mentioned on the ‘WillowTalk’ podcast.
“And we are large group of family and extra support staff. And next minute the guy that kind of wrangles the group of us and gets us on the bus comes up and his face was white.
“And he was like, we have to go proper now. And we had been saying, ‘oh, it is okay’. Like we’re most likely finest off letting everybody else get out of the stadium and like keep right here. We’re most likely safer in the mean time. Cause there will be folks taking place the steps all over the place,” she added.
Floodlight failure cited as the initial reason for the game’s suspension. Healy was in the stands along with family members of other players.
A confirmation is still awaited on whether Faf du Plessis would be returning to DC, while Tristan Stubbs has said he is rejoining the team but only for the rest of the league phase, after which he would be leaving for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
DC have signed Mustafizur Rahman as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, who isn’t returning to India, though doubts remain over the left-arm seamer’s participation with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) saying it hadn’t been approached for a no-objection certificate for the cricketer.
Published – May 16, 2025 12:06 pm IST
