With a spell of 3 for 40 during Delhi Capitals’ seven-wicket win over hosts Rajasthan Royals, Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc made a return to white-ball cricket after more than four months. The 36-year-old pacer, who had been sidelined from cricket since January after suffering shoulder and elbow injuries, joined the DC earlier this week. He took the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Ravindra Jadeja in his four-over spell on Friday night to set up his team’s first win in their last four matches.
Starc termed his performance as ‘getting some cobwebs out’ and said it feels nice for him to return to competitive cricket.
“It’s nice to get some cobwebs out, get back to the speed of the game. I think it was good to get some running in the legs, but nice to be back around the guys, get some training in, and then obviously get the win tonight. So, yeah, nice to return. I’ve been bowling a little bit for a couple of weeks, just trying to position it (my elbow) so I can manage what it is,” Starc said after the match in the post-match presentation.
The 36-year-old, who has been part of two ODI World Cup-winning Australian squads, had become IPL’s costliest player when Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for Rs 24.75 crore in the 2023 mega auction, a record later surpassed by Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Cameron Green. In the IPL mega auction in 2024, Starc was bought by Delhi for Rs 11.75 crore.
In the 2025 edition of the tournament, Starc had taken 14 wickets in 11 matches for DC at an average of 26.14 and an economy of 10.17. Starc had last played for Australia in the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney, after which he suffered shoulder and elbow injuries. Starc, who has taken 79 wickets in 65 T20Is for Australia apart from his 433 wickets in Tests and 247 wickets in ODIs, was in rehab for the last three months and had joined the Delhi camp earlier this week. When asked about the fact that he had not bowled in the last three months yet returned with such a performance, Starc shared how he will now get better in the format and play his role in the tournament.
“I hadn’t bowled to a batter for three months until tonight. So, it’s sort of getting back to that speed pretty quickly. I haven’t played white-ball cricket for a while, so in terms of ticking the boxes with skills, I felt I was in a position to do most of what I wanted to do. Tonight was a good reminder of a few other things that make the game. I think I’ll be better for the run in the legs for 20 overs, and then now I get into my portion of the tournament,” shared Starc.
With his shoulder and elbow strapped, when asked about playing with such precautions and post-injury, Starc shared how it’s part of a bowler’s life. “There are a couple of things. I think we’d laugh if you had three things strapped on and it’s time to think about retirement, but I’m not quite there yet. But no, it is what it is. It’s the cricketer’s life and a bowler’s life. We move on,” signed off Starc.
