Missed 8 matches…stormy bowler wreaked havoc in the return match, wreaked havoc by taking not one or two but three wickets

New Delhi. There is a big relief news for the camp of Delhi Capitals. Australia’s legendary left arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was suffering from injury for a long time, has finally returned to the field. In the match played against Rajasthan Royals, Starc not only showed his old rhythm with his bowling, but also proved why he is counted among the most dangerous bowlers in the world. Starc’s journey in IPL 2026 has been quite challenging. Due to shoulder injury, he could not be a part of the team for Delhi Capitals in the first 8 matches. In the absence of Starc, the bowling line-up of Delhi Capitals looked completely disintegrated. The weakness of the team was that Delhi could register only 2 wins in the first 8 matches, which made their path to the playoffs difficult. In such a situation, the eyes of the fans and management were fixed on Starc’s fitness and comeback.

Mitchell Starc made a great start while returning against Rajasthan Royals. The very first over of Rajasthan’s innings was like a litmus test for Delhi. In-form young batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal made his intentions clear by hitting an explosive six over midwicket on the very first ball. The atmosphere of the stadium was in favor of Rajasthan, but Starc showed his experience. On the very third ball, he showed his cleverness and gave a full toss to Jaiswal. Jaiswal got caught on this ball and Starc took a brilliant follow-through catch on his own ball and sent him to the pavilion. This wicket was like a lifeline for Delhi Capitals. Starc could not play the first 8 matches of the current season due to a shoulder injury.

Starc’s ‘magical’ 17th over
The match progressed and Starc’s real magic was seen in the 17th over of the innings. When the Rajasthan team was moving rapidly towards a big score, the captain handed the ball to Starc. Starc trapped Ravindra Jadeja in his net. Jadeja, who is known for scoring fast runs, could not read Starc’s ball properly and was caught by Ashutosh Sharma. In the same over, Starc also dismissed captain Riyan Parag. Akshar Patel brought another big success to Delhi by taking the catch with very safe hands. These two wickets curbed the run rate of Rajasthan. Rajasthan’s score till 16.4 overs was 168/5, and thanks to Starc, Delhi made a strong comeback in the match. By spending only 27 runs in three overs, Starc took 3 important wickets and gave the message that ‘King Starc’ is back.

Challenge and pressure of final overs
Cricket is a game of uncertainties. The last overs were not easy for Starc also. Devon Ferreira thrashed Starc who came to bowl in the 19th over. Ferreira disrupted Starc’s rhythm by hitting a four and a six and scored a total of 14 runs in that over. However, Starc ended his spell with 3 wickets for 40 runs in 4 overs. Even though Rajasthan managed to score a huge score of 225 runs losing 6 wickets in the end, Starc’s spell was the most positive aspect for Delhi.