Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc called out 'misinformed' statements in the Indian media regarding his delayed arrival for the 2026 IPL.
Mitchell Starc: These individuals claim to know my body better than me
Starc posted an Instagram story on Saturday (March 28): "Despite the opinions and views of certain individuals with their platforms in and through the Indian media, I'm currently rehabbing and managing an injury in my shoulder and elbow of which I didn't know the full extent of during the Australian summer.
"These individuals have made some strong statements around involvement in the IPL and provided heavily misinformed opinions of players, preached them as facts, and claim to know my body better than me.
"With that said, I do acknowledge this injury setback and timing is disruptive to the Delhi team and I apologise for that and to the fans for not being available for the early part of the season. I remain committed to DC, [we] are in continual communication updating the team and will continue to do what I can to be available for DC asap."
Starc was retained by the Delhi Capitals for IPL 2026, but it emerged last week that Australia's senior trio of fast bowlers – himself, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were likely to miss the early stages of the IPL as Cricket Australia looked to manage their workload. As the IPL kicks off today (March 28), both Cummins and Hazlewood have joined their franchises, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but will not be involved in the opener. Starc remains in Australia, having taken part in the Ashes and the Big Bash League over the Australian summer. He has not played a senior professional match since January 25.
At the team's pre-series press conference, however, DC skipper Axar Patel said Starc was "100% fit" and the franchise were only waiting for Cricket Australia to issue a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to the bowler.
More: IPL 2026 injury tracker, live updates: Full list of injured, unavailable players and replacements
While Starc did not name any individuals, there have been statements from former Indian cricketers regarding not just his delayed arrival but that of overseas players as a whole.
Ex-India opener Aakash Chopra spoke specifically about Starc a week ago, saying on his YouTube channel, “If Mitchell Starc is also not going to come at the start, what is Cricket Australia doing? You didn’t let Josh Hazlewood come, Pat Cummins isn’t coming, and now you have held back Mitchell Starc, even though he is absolutely fit. He has already said goodbye to T20Is. So what has he done in the last two months or so?"
"He hasn’t played any cricket after the Ashes, but despite that, you have asked him to rest because a big Test season is coming up, in which there are five Test matches against India. That’s just before the next IPL."
Sunil Gavaskar also wrote in Sportstarthree days ago: "There is also the usual taking the franchise for granted issue with some overseas players, who are not going to be available for non-injury and personal reasons. The owners of the franchises go out of their way to accommodate their players, often paying for families to come and spend time with the players at no cost to the millionaire players, mind you. It’s the Indian way and hospitality, which often is misunderstood as a right by some and who then try to take advantage of the situation."
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