NEW DELHI: Mitchell Starc has lashed out at critics over his delayed arrival for IPL 2026, asserting that his absence at the start of the season is due to injury management and not due to a lack of commitment to Delhi Capitals as some "heavily misinformed" opinions suggested.
The left-arm pacer is yet to arrive in India and will miss Delhi Capitals' opening matches, sparking debate around overseas players' commitment to their franchises.
Breaking his silence on the growing criticism, Starc said in a statement on Saturday, "Despite the opinions and views of certain individuals with their platforms in and through the Indian media, I'm currently rehabbing and managing an injury in my shoulder and elbow of which I didn't know the extent of during the Australian summer."
He added, "These individuals have made some strong statements around involvement in the IPL and provided heavily misinformed opinions of players, preached them as facts, and claim to know my body better than me."
The 36-year-old, who grabbed 14 wickets last IPL season, though "apologised" to his franchise for his unavailability in the beginning of the league this year while also pledging his commitment to the side which spent Rs 11.75 crore during the 2025 auction to get the Australian pacer's services.
"With that said I do acknowledge this injury setback and timing is disruptive to the Delhi team and I apologise for that and to the fans for not being available for the early part of this season. I remain committed to join DC, are in continual communication updating the team and will continue to do what I can to be available for DC asap."
Earlier, amid the criticism around Starc's absence, his wife and former Australia women's team captain Alyssa Healy had also come out in the pacer's defense.
Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel recently expressed optimism about Starc joining the squad, stating that he could arrive at any time once his No Objection Certificate (NOC) is issued by Cricket Australia, who have already announced that the pace trio of Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins would miss the early stages of the IPL due to workload management.