Mitchell Starc has arrived in India after receiving clearance from Cricket Australia, and one immediate task may be as stark as any he has faced in the IPL. If Delhi Capitals select him for rr vs dc, the left-arm quick could be asked to slow down 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has been tearing into fast bowlers from the first over.
Sooryavanshi has already smashed Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh from the outset this season, and few bowlers have found a clean answer. He has 400 runs in nine innings, a number that captures how quickly the teenager has turned each match into a test for the opposition’s best pace options.
The list of bruised attacks is already long. Sooryavanshi scored five runs off three balls against Khaleel Ahmed, seven off two against Trent Boult, and 20 off six against Arshdeep Singh before falling on the next delivery. In the same match against Punjab Kings, he added seven runs off three balls against Marco Jansen, while Mohsin Khan managed six dot balls in a row to him in the Lucknow Super Giants clash.
That pattern is what makes Starc’s arrival matter now. He returned to the IPL in 2024 and played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning campaign, then took 14 wickets last season for Delhi Capitals. His swing and pace are the obvious examination for Sooryavanshi, who has so far turned early overs into his own territory.
The tension is simple. Sooryavanshi has spent this season attacking top pacers before they can settle, and Starc arrives with the kind of velocity and new-ball movement that can force a different game. If the Capitals bring him in, rr vs dc becomes less a routine league fixture than a direct test of whether the teenager’s charge can survive one of the hardest openings in the tournament.
