Delhi – Mitchell Starc arrived late to this IPL season, but the left-arm quick is making up for lost time. On Sunday he produced 4 for 40 against Rajasthan Royals, all in the closing overs, steering Delhi Capitals to a much-needed win that preserves their slim play-off hopes.
Starc now has nine wickets in five appearances since debuting on 1 May. Coach Hemang Badani sounded both relieved and impressed. “His work ethic, his preparation before the game with his own plans and his training are above par. I don’t even see that with a lot of the younger boys, that’s the reason why he has sustained for so long,” Badani said. He added, “If you go back and see the recent Ashes series, he single-handedly won them the Ashes – there was no Pat Cummins, there was no Josh Hazlewood; that pretty much tells you what that man can do.”
Badani also outlined the behind-the-scenes value the Australian brings. “Speaking of the kind of work that he puts in with the younger lads: he’s always talking to them, he’s always trying to pass on the knowledge – how can you do reverse swing, how do I hold lengths, what do I do when a certain batter is going hard; do I look to pick wickets or do I look to try and be submissive and be defensive. There’s immense conversation that Starcy brings to the table.”
The match itself followed a simple arc: Royals got off to a brisk start, Starc went for two boundaries in his opening over and another 16 in his second. Yet skipper Rishabh Pant kept faith in the senior seamer, holding two overs back for the death. Once the ball roughened and began to reverse, Starc’s control returned. In the 15th he removed Riyan Parag and Donovan Ferreira off consecutive deliveries, then pinned Ravi Singh three balls later. Dasun Shanaka holed out in the 19th to complete the spell.
Former India batter Ambati Rayudu, watching on television duty, felt the turnaround owed plenty to conditions but more to Starc’s nous. “I don’t think he started off that well with the new ball. But his comeback in the middle was due to the ball tailing and that brilliant catch from Axar – I don’t think many people would have caught that,” Rayudu said. “So [that] set things up for Starc and after that, when it was reverse-swinging, he knows exactly how to bowl and what variations to use. Quite a good comeback for him.”
Sanjay Bangar, another ex-India coach, highlighted the combination of movement and pace. “One thing for [left-arm quicks] is that the ball tails in. The one which got Ravi – yes, he’s a little bit inexperienced in terms of the matches that he’s played – [was about] the speed in the air,” Bangar explained. “Air speed is equally important, and when a batsman is trying to line you up and when the ball is reversing a little bit, the direction in which maybe a Parag wanted to hit the shot or even Ferreira going across, going against the angle.”
That “air speed” – essentially the ball’s velocity through the air before pitching – remains central to Starc’s method. Even when he opts for a cutter or slower ball, the threat of genuine pace forces hitters to commit early, something Royals’ middle order discovered too late.
For Capitals the equation is now straightforward: win the last league fixture and hope net run-rate favours them. For Starc the goals are more personal. These limited-overs outings double as preparation for Australia’s upcoming tour of England. And, if Badani is accurate, they allow the wider squad to observe a blue-chip professional up close.
“Role model” may be an over-used tag, but in this case few in the Delhi dressing-room would disagree.
