DC's IPL 2026 Plans Get Messed up; Mitchell Starc Set to Miss Start of New Season Due to Workload Issues

IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals plans have gone for a toss as Australia's Mitchell Starc is set to miss the first few games of the season. Injury is not the reason for him missing a few IPL games, instead, Cricket Australia is giving him a break to manage his workload. Starc is a senior cricketer who is in the twilight period of his career and hence keeping his body in good shape is important. His unavailability at the start of the season would surely mess the Capitals' plans. 

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DC's Blueprint

The Capitals got their campaign off to a brilliant start in 2025, winning their first two games - but then, they lost the plot. With no Starc around for the start of the season, it will be difficult for the Capitals to set the template early on. They could not make the playoffs in 2025 as they finished fifth. This season the Capitals have a good mix of both Indian and overseas players at their disposal. There are talks that KL Rahul may open the batting for the Capitals. The Capitals do not need to worry about their top-order as they have good options in Prithvi Shaw, Ben Duckket and Pathum Nissanka.  

They are one of the few franchises who are yet to win the silverware and hence they would hope they can do what RCB did in 2025. The Capitals take on Lucknow Super Giants in their tournament opener on April 1. They would love to get their campaign off to a winning start. 

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Delhi Capitals: Full squad for IPL 2026

Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi Dar, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson