Delhi Capitals had retained Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc for Rs 11.75 crore ahead of IPL 2026 season.
Published: November 12, 2026, 12:38 PM IST
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Australian pacer Mitchell Starc availability is in doubt for IPL 2027 season(Photo: IANS)
IPL 2027: Delhi Capitals have star Australian pacer Mitchell Starc on their roster ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2027 with a salary of Rs 11.75 croreStarc has been part of DC since 2025 and has claimed 25 wickets in 17 matches in the last two seasons, including 11 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 20.36 earlier this year.
But with Australia preparing themselves for ODI World Cup 2027 as well Ashes next year, Starc and some of the other top Aussie pacers availability will be a major concern for all the IPL franchisesWith DC’s Rs 8.4 crore in Auqib Nabi failing to pick up a wicket in IPL 2026, the team could have major concerns with their fast bowling department next season.
GMR Group and JSW Sports co-owned DC finished in 6th place in IPL 2026 and failed to reach the Playoffs for the second year in successionSpeaking to JioStar’s ‘Game Plan’, former India opener Aakash Chopra raised concern about Starc’s possible absence next season.
“Ashutosh (Sharma), Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, plus Axar Patel, and then you’ve got (David) MillerSo, it’s a very decent setupThe problem area for them will be their bowling departmentBecause Mitchell Starc, will he play? It will be a conversation as to whether he will be available to play or notThey will face an issue with their fast bowling this season and how they plan to address it, I’ve got no idea,” Aakash Chopra told JioStar.
“Mukesh is at eight crore, Auqib Nabi at Rs 8.4 crore, and then you have Mitchell Starc at nearly 12, so that’s a lot of moneyLungi Ngidi was cheap, picked up for Rs 2 croreHe turned out to be a fantastic bargainDushmantha Chameera and Kyle Jamieson weren’t as expensive eitherBut the more expensive players might not be availableTheir pedigree and current form are still uncertain, and Mukesh Kumar’s T20 numbers have actually plummeted a little,” the former Delhi Ranji Trophy opener added.
IPL 2027 Retention & Availability Update!
Three overseas stars have made headlines ahead of IPL 2027:
✅ Pat Cummins – Retained by SRH
✅ Josh Hazlewood – Expected to stay with RCB
Mitchell Starc – Available for DC, subject to fitness#IPL2027 #PatCummins #JoshHazlewood https://t.co/RNkV9GlskE
— Cricadium (@Cricadium) November 12, 2026
Starc has claimed 76 wickets in 58 matches in his IPL career at an average of 22.72Overall in his T20 career, he has claimed 228 wickets in 164 matches at an average of 20.71.
Love for Rishabh Pant to bat in top three: Abhinav Mukund
The other major cause for debate in the DC team will be the batting position of Rishabh PantThe Delhi wicketkeeper has been traded back to DC from Lucknow Super Giants for a salary of Rs 15 crore – taking a salary cut of Rs 12 crore.
Pant had departed from DC ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction“I’d love for Rishabh to bat in the top threeIf that is an area where Delhi Capitals are looking to address, why not have Pant and Rahul open the batting? That is something I would do first with this side because I somehow struggled to find middle-order batters, as there are so many top-order options,” former India batter Abhinav Mukund told JioStar.
“There’s Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel, Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair and Sahil Parakh, all of whom bat in the top threeAnd then you want a batter like Rishabh Pant to bat at the top because you’ve bought him nowYou have seen that he hasn’t had much success at four and five in the last two yearsMaybe at Delhi, it would change because, in his earlier years at Delhi, he was very successful as a middle-order batterSo, if you want to bat him at four, keep him at fourThen you can use all your multiple other optionsIt’s also a case of new support staff, Dada, Yuvi Paa and all of themSo, you don’t know what their strategy isWe’ll have to wait and see what sort of team they’ll build,” Mukund added.
On DC’s decision to trade TNatarajan to Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mukund said, “I was very surprised when they released, or rather traded, Natarajan for Ansari because they’ve already got a Vipraj Nigam who’s very similar, a leggie, who can also batAxar Patel, Vipraj, how many more spinners are you going to field? So, I thought SRH were better off with that trade than DC getting in Zeeshan AnsariI don’t get that trade either.”
