Australia and Delhi Capitals pace bowler Mitchell Starc was one of the few overseas players who decided not to return to India after the Indo-Pak conflict on the border. The battle between India and Pakistan saw the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspend the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a week, allowing overseas stars to return to their respective countries as well. While most of the players returned to join their respective franchises when the T20 league resumed, Starc decided not to return.

“I’m comfortable with my decision and how I felt about the whole situation and how it was handled. That’s why I made my decision post-that, and my focus changed to red-ball cricket for about a week prior to coming over here. Time will tell with repercussions or how it looks with guys that didn’t return. But I’ve had my questions and concerns leading into that game, and obviously, we saw what happened, which played a part in my decision,” said Starc.

Mitchell Starc also revealed that World Test Championship final preparations with Australia was also a reason behind his decision as well. Meanwhile, his Australia teammate Josh Hazlewood, who is also a part of the WTC final squad, returned to India and played the remaining campaign for the RCB, who eventually won the tournament.

ALSO READ: “I did get a couple of hints” – AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement

“There was a little bit of that to my decision around the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. And then once the tournament was delayed you start to think about guys’ preparation for the Test match,” he further added.

“Things were handled differently for different players and different teams, the guys up in Dharamsala, the Punjab guys were part of that, and while both teams had similar experiences up there, all those guys returned for Punjab, and Jake Fraser-McGurk and I chose not to. So it was a very individual decision, and I’m happy to live with whatever comes of that,” said Starc.

“I’m still heavily committed to the Delhi group, and I’m not someone that’s gone into tournaments and pulled out after being picked up in an auction or whatever that looks like. These are different circumstances. It was more a question of not having enough information leading into making a decision about things of that degree. I had a discussion back home, then came to a decision, and whatever comes from that, I’m comfortable with that, and we move forward,” Mitchell Starc concluded.