🏏IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals, 43rd Match Jaipur🏏

🏏IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals, 43rd Match Jaipur🏏

The wait is finally over. Mitchell Starc is available to play for Delhi Capitals (DC) as they take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on Friday night.

Starc was recovering from a shoulder injury and joined the squad only a few days ago. While he hasn't played a match in more than three months, he has been bowling in the DC nets and would be raring to go.

DC, too, need this boost desperately. They are on a three-match losing streak and were bowled out for 75 in their previous outing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Apart from that, they have struggled to create impact with the new ball and have picked up just seven wickets in the powerplay this season, the joint-fewest along with Kolkata Knight Riders. For comparison, RR, the best team in that phase, have taken 21. Jofra Archer alone has picked up nine. Beyond numbers, Starc against RR's belligerent opening pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal should be a mouth-watering contest.

RR will be confident after their win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday. Playing in New Chandigarh, they chased down 223 to hand the hosts their first defeat of the season. RR now have two wins in their last three games. If they beat DC, they could - depending on the Gujarat Titans vs RCB result - even top the points table.

Delhi Capitals began their IPL 2026 season with promise. A little past the midpoint in the league phase, they are in Jaipur carrying the unease of drift. Few collapses sting like the kind they just endured at home: first hitting 264 against Punjab Kings and still losing, and then, two days later, folding for 75. Somewhere between this excess and absence, their rhythm has gone missing. At a moment when seasons should go on overdrive, the Capitals find themselves searching for something, anything, to steady the line.

Help, in the form of Mitchell Starc, arrives at just about the right time. Cleared to return from May 1, his presence offers more than just a world class skill-set; it offers disruption from the inertia. And Delhi will need all of it, because their hosts Rajasthan Royals are something of a proof of concept - the side that recently handed table-toppers Punjab Kings their first defeat of the season. This is not a game that allows Delhi to ease back in; it demands that they snap back into shape.

There is also a contest within the contest, another one that once again feels generational. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, all of 15 and already the story of the season, has met elite pace with startling composure. Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood have all been negotiated with a calm that belies his age. Starc, with his left-arm angle and late swing, presents a different examination altogether.

For Rajasthan, though, the greater comfort lies in what followed the top order the last time out - Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey finishing the job in Mullanpur, suggesting their batting may no longer end where it once did.

Delhi's questions, though, run deeper than just Starc's return. Their search for the right opening combination has begun to resemble restlessness, each change creating as much doubt as it solves. Sahil Parakh's debut lasted two balls - ended by a searing Bhuvneshwar inswinger - and it would feel harsh if that became the 18-year-old's only audition. Abishek Porel showed spunk as an Impact substitute, but promoting him back as KL Rahul's partner would mean yet another shuffle. In the middle of all this, Starc's return feels like a lift rather than a fix. Delhi Capitals will still need to find their own answers.

When: RR vs DC, IPL 2026, May 1 at 19:30 IST

Where: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

What to expect: Jaipur will simmer under 40 degrees Celsius heat through the afternoon, with the air staying heavy well into the evening. The black-soil surfaces here tend to keep the bounce on the lower side, but that trait didn't quite dominate the only game so far this season - RR's clash against SRH - when 229 was breached with ease.

Head to Head: RR 15-15 DC. Fittingly level, much like their last meeting, which needed a Super Over to decide matters.

Team Watch:

Rajasthan Royals

Injuries/Availability: No new injuries to report

Tactics & Analysis

Jofra Archer has nine wickets in the Powerplay this season and he'll be up against a DC side that has struggled to find any momentum or continuity through their opening partnerships. If he can knock over KL Rahul early, DC will be pushed into rocky terrain again.

Probable XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja/Ravi Bishnoi

Delhi Capitals

Injuries/Availability: Lungi Ngidi began light training following his scary head injury against PBKS. But he will not play this game yet, owing to concussion protocols.

Tactics & Analysis:

Donovan Ferreira, the star of RR's win over PBKS, has been dismissed twice by Kuldeep Yadav in just nine balls faced against the wrist spinner. It's a match-up opportunity for Delhi to exploit through the middle overs.

Probable XII: Sahil Parakh/Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel (c), Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, T. Natarajan, Vipraj Nigam/Auqib Nabi

Did you know?

- David Miller averages 77.8 and has struck at 164.13 against Rajasthan Royals

- Yashasvi Jaiswal's tally of 2472 runs puts him third in the list of players with most IPL runs before turning 25. Only Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant had more.

- Axar Patel with the bat in IPL 2026: 0, 2, 1, 26* (retd hurt), 2, 0

Yashasvi Jaiswal played a crucial role at the top as Rajasthan Royals pulled off a stunning chase against Punjab Kings, and the young opener was full of praise for his opening partner Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after the game.

Chasing a daunting 223, Rajasthan were powered early by a blistering start, with Sooryavanshi smashing 43 off just 16 balls and Jaiswal contributing a composed 51 off 27. The pair added 51 runs in just 3.2 overs, setting the tone for what eventually became a six-wicket win with four balls to spare, thanks to a late flourish from Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey.

Reflecting on the partnership, Jaiswal was clearly impressed with the youngster at the other end. “Of course, it's amazing. I really enjoyed batting with him and he's playing amazing. So it's always, I'm always happy seeing the other end, the way he's hitting the ball,” he said.

What they said:

"I still cannot understand what happened (against RCB). That is why they say you have to be on your toes at all times in cricket. Ifs and buts will be there - like if we had taken that catch or taken that run (against GT). That will keep happening. But each day, you have to be on your toes and keep doing what you have been doing well. You cannot take it easy for even one day." - Axar Patel on DC's sudden dip in form

Rajasthan Royals have been in dominant form and have solidified their position on the points table with a couple of wins in their last three matches. Their most significant win came in their previous fixture, where RR became the first team in this season to beat the first-placed Punjab Kings. The Riyan Parag-led side will be confident to pull off another magical performance.

Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, started with a lot of promise. They won two out of their first three games, but in the next five, they won only once. The last couple of defeats have hurt them the most, as they first conceded 265 in their defence against PBKS while getting bundled out for just 75 against RCB. As a result, the unit will have to regroup themselves and gain two crucial points as the race to the playoffs intensifies.