Good news for Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2025 resumption, star players to join but…
The IPL 2025 season is all set to resume on Saturday (May 17) after a break of one week due to ongoing India-Pakistan tension. One team that is struggling to put together their strongest squad is Axar Patel’s Delhi Capitals, who are also in the race to qualify for the Playoffs.
DC have already been dealt a big blow with Australian pacer Mitchell Starc deciding not to return to India for the remaining matches in the IPL 2025 season. Starc, who was bought for Rs 11.75 crore by DC at the IPL 2025 mega auction, had claimed 14 wickets in 11 matches this season.
Apart from Starc, another Australian – Jake Fraser-McGurk has also pulled out of the remaining matches in the IPL 2025 season. DC had signed up veteran Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman for Rs 6 crore to replace Fraser-McGurk but the signing was put in doubt when the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) claimed that they had not given ‘NOC’ to the left-arm pacer.
Now, finally to the relief of DC management, Mustafizur Rahman has been ‘granted’ a no-objection certificate to link up with DC for ‘the period from 18-24 May 2025’, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
That makes him available for DC’s three remaining league matches in IPL 2025 starting with one against Gujarat Titans in Delhi on Sunday, but not the playoffs, should DC make it to that stage. The BCB confirmed that Mustafizur would be available for Bangladesh’s first T20I against UAE in Sharjah on Saturday before travelling to India. Whether he is ready for action after reaching India on May 18 for DC’s game the same evening, however, remains to be seen.
On Friday morning, Starc confirmed that he wouldn’t be travelling to India for the remainder of IPL 2025, a week after being part of the match against Punjab Kings that was abandoned in Dharamsala – and will be replayed in Jaipur. South African all-rounder Donovan Ferreira, who played one game this season, would also not be returning.
Meanwhile, former South Africa and RCB captain Faf du Plessis is set to return to DC, while Tristan Stubbs has confirmed his return, but only for the rest of the league phase after which he would be leaving for the WTC 2025 final against Australia which starts at Lord’s on June 11.
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