Mitchell Starc makes first appearance of IPL 2026 as Axar Patel urges struggling DC to 'focus on positives'

Mitchell Starc made his first appearance of the 2026 Indian Premier League on Friday, 1 May with Delhi Capitals including the senior Australian pacer in their lineup for their away clash against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Rajasthan Royals, whose captain Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bat, also made changes to their lineup. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi returned to the playing XI and Shubham Dubey was included in the starting XI while Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka was included in the Impact Subs list.

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Starc came in for Dushmantha Chameera while Pathum Nissanka replaced Sahil Parikh at the top of the order. Due to the limit on the number of foreign players in the playing XI, David Miller had to vacate his spot in the middle-order, with Ashutosh Sharma coming in his place.

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Axar urges Capitals to focus on positives as Starc makes first appearance

The 36-year-old is making his first competitive appearance since January, having last represented Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League immediately after starring in Australia's 4-1 Ashes triumph over England. He was also not part of the T20 World Cup, where Australia suffered a shock first-round exit after defeats against Zimbabwe and co-hosts Sri Lanka, having retired from the format back in September.

Starc had missed the initial fixtures of the season along with fellow Australian speedsters Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, and was the last of the pace trio to make an appearance in the 19th IPL season. His arrival comes at a time when the Capitals find themselves at the seventh spot on the points table, having lost five of their last six games, desperately needing a win to stay afloat in the playoffs race.

"It's important to return to basics. You need to stay in the present to turn things around, focus on the positives. Attitude and body language are very important," Axar said during the toss at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

RR vs DC, IPL 2026 Playing XIs

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(wk), Riyan Parag(c), Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubham Dubey, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma; Impact Subs: Adam Milne, Dasun Shanaka, Ravi Singh, Yash Raj Punja, Tushar Deshpande

Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul(wk), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Kyle Jamieson, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan; Impact Subs: David Miller, Vipraj Nigam, Karun Nair, Abishek Porel, Auqib Nabi Dar