Director of Cricket at Delhi Capitals, Sourav Ganguly, criticised the uncertainty over Mitchell Starc for the start of the Indian Premier League 2026, which gets underway on March 28. With Starc's availability for the initial phase of the IPL 2026 in doubt, Ganguly said that a player's unavailability hurts the team.
"It hurts... because when quality players don't come in at the last minute, it shakes the balance of the team," Ganguly said during a brand endorsement. The former Indian cricketer stated that franchise making is even more difficult than making the Indian team.
"It hurts because I've always said making an Indian team is easier than making an IPL team. Because the best players are available all the time to be picked. IPL is 10 teams, and players get distributed. And when quality players don't come in at the last minute, obviously it shakes up the balance of the team."
He stated that the player substitutes are not as powerful as the first-choice players have been. "Because the substitutes, the availability is not as strong as the one who has not turned up... But in IPL if Mitchell Starc misses out or Pathirana misses out, the void is very hard to fill. So that's one of the challenges."
DC skipper Axar, team's cricket director Venugopal Rao speaks up on Starc
Meanwhile, Capitals' skipper Axar Patel and the team's director Venugopal Rao spoke on Starc, with the latter confirming that the Australian pacer will obviously join the squad; however, it is just the NOC which will decide when he will do so. "He is coming; it is just a question of getting the NOC from Cricket Australia. They are monitoring, we are monitoring (his fitness and workload)," Rao said.
With Rao and Badani by his side, Axar was asked whether he would be prepared to field T Natarajan as a replacement for Starc if the latter fails to arrive in time for the team’s opening match against LSG in Lucknow on April 1. "It is tough to answer that at this stage. If Starc gets NOC, he can also come before the first match. We are waiting for that update. If he doesn't come, there is no temptation to replace a left arm pacer with a left arm pacer.
"It is about team combination. Having said that, Natajaran is doing really well and is 100 per cent fit," said Axar.
