Australia and Delhi Capitals pacer Mitchell Starc was among the select group of overseas players who chose not to travel back to India following the Indo-Pak war on the border. The clash between India and Pakistan saw the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) postpone the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a couple of days, allowing overseas stars the chance to head back home. Though all but a few players returned to play for their franchises when the T20 league resumed, Starc opted not to do so.
Starc Stands by His Decision to Skip Remainder of IPL 2025
The Australian pacer, who was pivotal to DC’s strong show in the first half of the campaign, said that he had no problems with the stance he too (to not return to India for the remainder of the campaign”.
“I’m comfortable with my decision and how I felt about the whole situation and how it was handled. That’s why I made my decision post-that, and my focus changed to red-ball cricket for about a week prior to coming over here. Time will tell with repercussions or how it looks with guys that didn’t return. But I’ve had my questions and concerns leading into that game, and obviously, we saw what happened, which played a part in my decision,” said Starc.
WTC Final Factored into Decision of Mitchell Starc
Starc also mentioned that World Test Championship final preparation with Australia was also a reason why he made this choice.
“There was a little bit of that to my decision around the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. And then once the tournament was delayed you start to think about guys’ preparation for the Test match,” he added.
Hazlewood’s Contrasting Call Highlights Individual Nature of Decisions
But it is also to be noted that Starc’s Australian teammate Josh Hazlewood, who is also in the WTC final contingent, chose to come back to India and play out the remaining campaign for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who ended up winning the tournament.
“Things were handled differently for different players and different teams, the guys up in Dharamsala, the Punjab guys were part of that, and while both teams had similar experiences up there, all those guys returned for Punjab, and Jake Fraser-McGurk and I chose not to. So it was a very individual decision, and I’m happy to live with whatever comes of that,” said Starc.
Mitchell Starc Reaffirms Commitment to Delhi Capitals Despite Absence
Starc has only continued to reaffirm his commitment to the Delhi Capitals, “I’m still heavily committed to the Delhi group, and I’m not someone that’s gone into tournaments and pulled out after being picked up in an auction or whatever that looks like. These are different circumstances,” said Starc.
“It was more a question of not having enough information leading into making a decision about things of that degree. I had a discussion back home, then came to a decision, and whatever comes from that, I’m comfortable with that, and we move forward,” he added.
