Delhi Capitals to be without Mitchell Starc for start of IPL 2026

Australian cricketer Mitchell Starc will not be featuring in the early part of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, as Delhi Capitals have been handed a major blow. The franchise will face a scarcity of enormous experience from Starc in their pace attack, as Cricket Australia has asked the cricketer to delay his arrival in India, which allows him to manage his workload efficiently.

Starc’s absence means that the Delhi-based franchise might have to rely a little more on their Indian core. However, they do have the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, and Dushmantha Chameera in their ranks to fill in the void of an overseas pacer option. The experienced bowler’s unavailability might also provide enough chances to Auqib Nabi to make a formidable attack alongside Mukesh Kumar and T. Natarajan.

Delhi Capitals’ squad for IPL 2026

Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Tristan Stubbs, Auqib Nabi, Mukesh Kumar, Nitish Rana (traded in), Pathum Nissanka, Abishek Porel, Ashutosh Sharma, Ben Duckett, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Sameer Rizvi, Dushmantha Chameera, Prithvi Shaw, Karun Nair, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Vihaan Malhotra, Kyle Jamieson

Plethora of overseas unavailabilities

Starc is not the only Australian pacer who is going to miss the upcoming IPL season. Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins will also join the season a little late, with Ishan Kishan being the interim captain. Additionally, CSK’s Nathan Ellis has been ruled out of the entire 2026 edition of the tournament due to a hamstring injury, as the five-time champions are now seeking a replacement for the young pace bowler.

Starc’s partial absence adds to the list of overseas players who will not be seen taking part in the 2026 edition of the cash-rich event. The most notable name is Mustafizur Rahman, who was forced out through a BCCI directive. Furthermore, Matheesha Pathirana is another Kolkata Knight Riders pacer who has reportedly not been granted a No-Objection Certificate yet by SLC, as he failed to clear the fitness tests.