The Delhi Capitals head to Chinnaswamy on Saturday in a very different position than when they started the season.
Two wins in their first two games made Axar Patel’s team look like real playoff contenders. Consecutive defeats since then against Gujarat Titans and then a tough loss to CSK, where Sanju Samson’s century exposed the bowling in a way that was difficult to watch, have changed the conversation completely.
The batting has shown enough throughout the season to suggest that is not the problem. Bowling, without his investment of Rs 11.75 crore leading the attack, is a different matter.
RCB vs DC: The Mitchell Starc situation and what it means for the Delhi Capitals
Starc is unlikely to appear on Saturday. The Australian pace legend is still dealing with shoulder and elbow injuries sustained during the Australian summer and is yet to formally join the Delhi camp.
DC Cricket Director Venugopal Rao earlier confirmed that a definitive update on his fitness would only be available in a week’s time.
Mitchell Starc took to social media to reassure fans about his commitment to the franchise, but he is currently back home in rehab. According to the Times of India report, Starc is unlikely to join the DC squad before April 20, which means DC faces one of the toughest away games on the schedule without the bowler they spent the most money on.
The absence hurts more considering what Starc has produced in this competition. Last season with DC, he took 14 wickets in 11 matches, including a five-wicket haul.
Throughout his IPL career with KKR, RCB and now DC, he has 65 wickets in 52 matches at an average of 23.12, and it was 17 wickets in 14 games for KKR in their 2024 title-winning campaign that showed how decisively he can shape the fortunes of a team when he is in form. DC’s bowling without him has looked ineffective in the exact situations where he would have been most dangerous.
Also READ: Will Matheesha Pathirana play today’s IPL match? Exploring KKR’s best XI against GT
What the DC XI looks like and what it needs to do against RCB
With Starc absent, Lungi Ngidi carries the onus of overseas pace along with T Natarajan’s precision at the death. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar remain the main options to take wickets in the middle overs and the burden on both of them against an RCB batting line-up that has looked in excellent touch this season is significant.
The batting has KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka at the top, the emergence of Sameer Rizvi in the middle and the finishing power of David Miller and Tristan Stubbs in the lower-middle order. If DC can post or chase a competitive total, the batting should hold up.
The question, as it has been for three weeks, is whether bowling can create enough pressure at Chinnaswamy, a pitch that has produced some of the highest-scoring games in IPL history, to give them a chance.
DC predicted XI: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Sameer Rizvi, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Auqib Nabi, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar. Impact Player: Ashutosh Sharma or Vipraj Nigam.