Mitchell Starc Breaks Silence On Not Returning For IPL 2025 After Indo-Pak Conflict

Australia and Delhi Capitals pacer Mitchell Starc was one of the few overseas players who decided against returning to India after the Indo-Pak conflict on the border. The battle between India and Pakistan prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to suspend the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a few days, giving overseas stars the opportunity to return to their respective homes. While most of the players returned to join their franchises as the T20 league resumed, Starc decided against it.

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.

Starc also revealed that World Test Championship final preparations with Australia was also a factor behind his decision.

"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.

However, it is also to be understood that Starc's Australia teammate Josh Hazlewood, who is also a part of the WTC final squad, decided to return to India and play the remaining campaign for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who went on to win 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.

Starc has continued to pledge his loyalty 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.

Topics mentioned in this article

Delhi Capitals Mitchell Starc IPL 2025 Cricket