Delhi Capitals Schedule IPL 2025: Delhi Capitals (DC) have had a major reshuffle to their squad following the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, and are expected by many to appoint India all-rounder Axar Patel as captain of the side. With Rishabh Pant leaving DC, the franchise retained Axar, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel. KL Rahul was the team’s headline purchase at the auction, while Australians Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk were also bought for big money. Delhi will be aiming for their first title win in IPL 2025.

Here is Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2025 schedule in full:

DC vs LSG – 7:30 PM IST – Marh 24 – ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam

DC vs SRH – 3:30 PM IST – March 30 – ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam

CSK vs DC – 3:30 PM IST – April 5 – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

RCB vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – April 10 – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

DC vs MI – 7:30 PM IST – April 13 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

DC vs RR – 7:30 PM IST – April 16 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

GT vs DC – 3:30 PM IST – April 19 – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

LSG vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – April 22 – Ekana Stadium, Lucknow

DC vs RCB – 7:30 PM IST – April 27 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

DC vs KKR – 7:30 PM IST – April 29 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

SRH vs DC – 7:30 PM IST –  May 5 – Uppal Stadium, Hyderabad

PBKS vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – May 8 – New Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mullanpur

DC vs GT – 7:30 PM IST – May 11 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

MI vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – May 15 – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

DC Full Squad:

KL Rahul, Harry Brook, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk, T. Natarajan, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam

Mitchell Starc was one of the top names, who Australia will be missing from the Champions Trophy 2025. The Australian side has seen a major reshuffling in the last week after top names like Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh were conformed to miss the Champions Trophy. Steve Smith will be the new Australia captain. To bolster the squad, Australia has brought in Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, and Tanveer Sangha. Additionally, Cooper Connolly will travel as a reserve player.

Several reports and former player Brad Haddin said that the pregnancy of Alysa Healy, Australian cricket great and wife of Mitchell Starc, was the reason behind Starc pulling out of the Champions Trophy 2025.

But Healy has quashed the rumours. “I’m fine,” she was quoted as saying by Fox Sports. “Hadds (Brad Haddin) suggested maybe I was pregnant but I can guarantee that I’m not. Yeah we’re fine.”

Cricket Australia chair of selectors George Bailey also clarified the reason behind Starc missing the Champions Trophy 2025.

“We understand and respect Mitch’s decision,” chair of selectors George Bailey said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“Mitch [Starc] is deeply respected for his commitment to international cricket and the priority he places on performing for Australia. His well documented ability to play through pain and adversity, as well as forgoing opportunities in other parts of his career to put his country first should be applauded. His loss is of course a blow for the Champions Trophy campaign but does provide an opportunity to someone else to make a mark on the tournament.”

Fraser-McGurk, who has a modest ODI average of 17.40 from five matches but impressed with a 95 off 46 balls in the Big Bash League (BBL) for Melbourne Renegades, adds depth to the top order following Marsh’s absence. Johnson, a left-arm pacer, offers a like-for-like replacement for Starc, though he is yet to take a wicket in his two ODI appearances. Meanwhile, leg-spinner Sangha, who was already with the Test squad in Sri Lanka as a development player, will partner with Adam Zampa as the team’s second frontline spinner.

“The squad has changed significantly over the past month on the back of some untimely injuries and the retirement of Marcus Stoinis,” Bailey said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

“The upside of that is that we have been able to call on players who have had international exposure and success over the past 12 months,” he added.

“A strong core of some our most experienced players will provide a strong foundation in our attempt to win this edition of the Champions Trophy. We have a range of options to shape the playing XI within the tournament depending on the opposition and conditions we face,” he said.

With ANI inputs 

Australia’s bid to win the Champions Trophy was a dealt a major setback Wednesday with their formidable pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood all ruled out. Cummins (ankle) and Hazlewood (side and calf) were always unlikely to play, but Starc has also withdrawn for personal reasons. Steve Smith will captain the team after standing in for Cummins during their two-Test thrashing of Sri Lanka this month. The 15-man squad is also without all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who retired from the 50-over game last week, and Mitchell Marsh who was previously omitted with a back issue.

“The squad has changed significantly over the past month on the back of some untimely injuries and the retirement of Marcus Stoinis,” said chief selector George Bailey.

“The upside of that is that we have been able to call on players who have had international exposure and success over the past 12 months. 

“A strong core of some our most experienced players will provide a strong foundation in our attempt to win this edition of the Champions Trophy,” he added. 

“We have a range of options to shape the playing XI within the tournament depending on the opposition and conditions we face.”

Starc was the only member of the “Big Three” fast bowling attack to play all seven Tests against India and Sri Lanka across the current Australian summer.

Bailey said he respected Starc’s decision, with the reasons for his withdrawal to remain private.

“Mitch is deeply respected for his commitment to international cricket and the priority he places on performing for Australia,” he said. 

“His loss is of course a blow for the Champions Trophy campaign but does provide an opportunity to someone else to make a mark on the tournament.”

Starc will also miss the two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting in Colombo later Wednesday.

The loss of Australia’s long-time pace attack has opened the door for the likes of Spencer Johnson, Nathan Ellis and Ben Dwarshuis.

Aaron Hardie takes over as the seaming all-rounder while emerging leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was included to complement Adam Zampa.

The eight-nation Champions Trophy, between February 19 and March 9, will be played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa

SL v AUS, 1st Test Day 4 LIVE Score Updates© AFP

Sam Konstas hit Jasprit Bumrah for a reverse ramp six.© AFP

It was a show of pure grit and resilience from Indian cricket team wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant on Day 1 of the fifth Test match against Australia in Sydney on Friday. Pant remained strong in face of fiery pace bowling from Australia and although wickets continued to tumble on the other end, he scored a significant 40 off 98 deliveries. During his innings, he was left bruised on the arm by a stinging delivery from Mitchell Starc while a bouncer from the same bowler hit him on the helmet. He was forced to receive treatment from the physio on multiple occasions but it did not dampen his spirits.

Pant targeted the debutant Beau Webster and in the 46th over of the match, he stepped down to the medium-pacer and heaved him for a brilliant six over long-on. The connection was so good that the ball got stuck in the sight screen and had to be retrieved by the ground staff with the help of a ladder.

 Pant said he batted with restraint on the opening day of the fifth Test against Australia because character of the SCG pitch did not allow him to be in his customary aggressive self.

Pant, who copped severe criticism from all corners for his callous approach to batting during the previous Test at Melbourne, made a 98-ball 40 in India’s 185 all out on Friday.

Rishabh Pant is a tough Guy.

– It’s time to make it big at SCG for India. pic.twitter.com/mcuRk3H8Xy

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 3, 2025

“In this innings, I wasn’t in frame of mind where I felt I could take charge of the game looking at nature of the wicket,” Pant said in the post-day press meet.

“Sometimes you have to play secure cricket as there were occasions where I could have taken 50-50 chances but didn’t,” he added.

Every time someone doubts on Rishabh Pant, he smacks them just like thatpic.twitter.com/awqvWck5Ii

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) January 3, 2025

The left-hander also said he is evolving as a batter, trying to find the right balance between defense and aggression.

“You want to bat the way that comes naturally to you but keep evolving and trying to keep a balance between attack and defense.”

Pant admitted that a batter tends to complicate things when he is not batting well.

“When you are not doing well you tend to overthink,” he said.

Debutant Aussie all-rounder Beau Webster concurred with Pant’s view on the pitch.

“They (India batters) decided to knuckle down and made us bowl lot of overs. I am not sure what a good score on this track but we would have batted first had we won the toss,” said Webster. 

(With PTI inputs)

File image of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.© AFP

Mitchell Starc and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bail-switch antics© X (Twitter)

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald conceded that Mitchell Marsh has fallen short of expectations with the bat against India but remained optimistic about Mitchell Starc’s availability for the pivotal fifth Test in Sydney. Starc’s fitness remains the primary worry for the hosts after the pacer battled through sore ribs from day three of the Boxing Day Test but still managed to bowl effectively, including claiming the prized wicket of Virat Kohli on the final day.

“Any time you get through the game, it’s always a good indicator that you’ve a chance at the next game,” McDonald told reporters after the hosts picked up memorable victory at the MCG to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

“It didn’t stop him (Starc). Clearly there was a little bit of discomfort early on in spells, but once he got warm it seemed as though he was pretty free.

“We’ll see how everyone recovers. Bowling last, it was a pretty attritional game, something that we’re not used to in the last few years.

“Clearly Starcy’s carrying something of some description. We’ll assess that.

“But other than that, it looks as though we got through pretty unscathed, but [with a] short turnaround recovery is important, and we’ll assess what the team looks like in Sydney based upon the surface, as we always do.” Australia will regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-15 if they win or draw the Sydney Test.

However, if India win the New Year’s Test, they will retain the trophy, winning the series for a record-extending fifth-straight time.

Should Starc be unavailable for the series decider at his home ground, McDonald expressed confidence in Jhye Richardson or Sean Abbott stepping in to fill the void.

“Very confident. Richardson’s here for a reason. So if we weren’t confident, he wouldn’t be here. He’s had a heavy week with us in the nets. All indications are he’d be capable of bowling 40-plus overs if he was called upon.

“Sean Abbott’s there as well. We feel like, [the] SCG is his home ground, so he will be serviceable if called upon as well. It’ll be about assessing our frontline quicks and then making decisions from there.” Starc’s fitness issues, compounded by his heavy workload alongside skipper Pat Cummins, have also drawn attention to the limited role of Mitch Marsh as a fifth bowler.

Across four Tests, Australia’s fifth bowling option Marsh has bowled only 33 overs, a statistic that underscores his underutilization.

Marsh’s contributions with the bat have been similarly underwhelming, with just 73 runs at an average of 10.42 across four Tests (6, 47, 9, 5, 2, 4, 0). These lackluster returns have sparked criticism and calls for his exclusion.

However, McDonald defended the all-rounder.

“He’s in a good [head] space. Would you like better performances? There’s no doubt about that. Over four Test matches, he hasn’t been able to deliver at the level he would like and we would like.” “He’s up and about though. We just won a Test match. No, there’s no concern. And I think people have probably been reading too much into that.

“We haven’t required him with the ball as often as what we would have thought. He bowled again today. There are no injury concerns there.

McDonald insisted that Marsh bowling just 33 overs is simply because the team didn’t require him to roll his arm.

“I think to sort of head that down that angle is a little bit unfair. We just haven’t required him at certain times for whatever reason, so that’s more a tactical implementation, as opposed to a body.” 

Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli© X (Twitter)