Delhi Capitals (DC) are taking on Gujarat Titans (GT) in their first game after the restart of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) following a one-week suspension.
However, the marquee name of Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc was missing from the DC lineup. This is because Starc had returned home during the hiatus and opted not to return. He will not just miss the GT match but won’t be available for any of their remaining three league games and the playoffs as well if DC manage to qualify.
While there has been no official confirmation from the franchises regarding his reason of absence, it is understood that he prioritised his preparations for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC 2025 Final) where Australia lock horns with South Africa from June 11.
Starc, who was acquired for INR 11.75 crores at the auction, has been a crucial player for DC this season. He was their leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps from 11 games and his absence will be a big miss for the Axar Patel-led side, especially in the business end of the tournament with the playoffs race at stake.
DC are currently placed fifth in the points table with 13 points from 11 games and are well in contention for a top-four finish.
ALSO READ:
Delhi Capitals: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Sameer Rizvi, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mustafizur Rahman
Delhi Capitals Impact Players: Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Karun Nair, Sediqullah Atal, Dushmantha Chameera
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Dasun Shanaka.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.