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Cricket PlayersMitchell Starc breaks silence on not returning for IPL upon resumption: ‘Took similar decision for CT 2025 in Pakistan’
Mitchell Starc finally breaks his silence on not returning to play the remainder of the IPL 2025 season for Delhi Capitals.
Australia pacer Mitchell Starc finally broke his silence on not returning to India for the remainder of the IPL 2025 season once it resumed after a one-week suspension. The rising cross-border tension between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack led to the 18th edition of the T20 tournament being suspended for one week. However, a ceasefire declaration paved the way for the competition to resume.
While most of the foreign stars returned for the remainder of the league, Australia's Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who both represented Delhi Capitals, did not.
While speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Starc said that he had his concerns and questions, and he felt it best not to make the trip to India for the remainder of the tournament. He said he took a similar decision regarding the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 which was played in Pakistan and Dubai.
Australia played all their games in Pakistan, apart from the semi-final against India.
"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.
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"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.
‘Happy with whatever comes’
Mitchell Starc was a part of the Delhi Capitals' playing XI when the contest against Punjab Kings was called off midway in Dharamsala due to an air raid warning.
The entire stadium was vacated. Delhi Capitals' players then spent "six hours in a car and six hours on a train" to get back to their base. Mitchell Starc and his wife, Alyssa Healy, flew back to Australia immediately once the tournament was suspended.
"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.
The left-arm pacer, who was one of the best performers for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2025, said he remains committed to the franchise.
“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.
