Mitchell Starc on not returning to IPL 2025: I’m comfortable with my decision and how I felt about the whole situation and how it was handled

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Starc Mitchell Starc in action. (FILE photo)

While some of Mitchell Starc’s Australian colleagues did return for the Indian Premier League 2025 after Operation Sindhoor, the Delhi Capitals pacer did not. The tournament came to a halt during the game between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals midway through in Dharmsala and resumed on May 17 after the ceasefire was imposed.

“I’m comfortable with my decision and how I felt about the whole situation and how it was handled. That’s why I made my decision post-that, and my focus changed to red-ball cricket for about a week prior to coming over here. Time will tell with repercussions or how it looks with guys that didn’t return. But I’ve had my questions and concerns leading into that game, and obviously, we saw what happened, which played a part in my decision,” said Starc, speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Players were arranged special train and evacuated from the stadium amidst security concerns after the game was halted. “Things were handled differently for different players and different teams, the guys up in Dharamsala, the Punjab guys were part of that, and while both teams had similar experiences up there, all those guys returned for Punjab, and Jake Fraser-McGurk and I chose not to. So it was a very individual decision, and I’m happy to live with whatever comes of that,” said Starc.

“I’m still heavily committed to the Delhi group, and I’m not someone that’s gone into tournaments and pulled out after being picked up in an auction or whatever that looks like. These are different circumstances,” Starc justified his decision

Starc did acknowledge that he took a similar decision at the time of Champions Trophy 2025 where India did not travel to Pakistan for their games instead played them in UAE. “There was a little bit of that to my decision around the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. And then once the tournament was delayed you start to think about guys’ preparation for the Test match,” he added.

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