Delhi Capitals head to the Chinnaswamy on Saturday in a very different position from where they started the season.

Two wins from their first two games had Axar Patel’s side looking like genuine playoff contenders. Back-to-back defeats since then against Gujarat Titans and then a chastening loss to CSK where Sanju Samson’s century exposed the bowling in a way that was difficult to watch, have changed the conversation entirely.

The batting has shown enough across the season to suggest it is not the problem.

The bowling, without its 11.75 crore investment at the front of the attack, is a different matter.

RCB vs DC: The Mitchell Starc situation and what it means for Delhi Capitals

Starc is unlikely to feature on Saturday. The Australian pace legend is still managing shoulder and elbow injuries sustained during the Australian summer and has not yet formally joined the Delhi camp.

DC’s Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao earlier confirmed that a definitive update on his fitness would only be available in a week’s time.

Mitchell Starc took to social media to reassure fans of his commitment to the franchise but is currently in rehabilitation back home.

As per Times of India report Starc is unlikely to join the DC squad before April 20, which means DC head into one of the toughest away fixtures on the schedule without the bowler they spent the most money on.

The absence stings more given what Starc has produced in this competition. Last season with DC he took 14 wickets in 11 matches with a five-wicket haul to his name.

Across his IPL career with KKR, RCB and now DC he has 65 wickets from 52 matches at an average of 23.12, and it was 17 wickets in 14 games for KKR in their 2024 title-winning campaign that showed how decisively he can shape a team’s fortunes when fit.

DC’s bowling without him has looked toothless in the exact situations where he would have been most dangerous.

What the DC XI looks like and what it needs to do vs RCB

With Starc absent Lungi Ngidi carries the overseas pace responsibility alongside T Natarajan’s accuracy at the death. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar remain the primary wicket-taking options through the middle overs and the burden on both of them against an RCB batting lineup that has looked in excellent touch this season is significant.

The batting has KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka at the top, Sameer Rizvi’s emergence in the middle, and the finishing power of David Miller and Tristan Stubbs in the lower middle order. If DC can post or chase a competitive total the batting should hold up.

The question, as it has been for three weeks, is whether the bowling can create enough pressure at Chinnaswamy, a ground that has produced some of the highest scoring games in IPL history, to give them a chance.

DC Predicted XI: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Sameer Rizvi, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Auqib Nabi, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.

Impact Player: Ashutosh Sharma or Vipraj Nigam.