Starc told Delhi Capitals that he will not return, freeing him up to focus on WTC final against South Africa
\n NEW DELHI
\nAustralian fast bowler Mitchell Starc will not return to the disrupted Indian Premier League, reports said Friday, while England\u2019s former white-ball captain Jos Buttler will leave before the playoffs.
\nThe world\u2019s richest cricket tournament was suspended last week because of a brief but deadly conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India.
\nThe competition will resume Saturday but faces losing several top stars for the closing stages because of clashes with the schedules of international teams including Australia, England and South Africa.
\nFour days of drone, missile and artillery exchanges from May 7 left around 70 people, including dozens of civilians, dead on both sides of the border.
\nStarc\u2019s Delhi Capitals were playing in Dharamsala when a match was abandoned because of what officials said was floodlight failure.
\nDharamsala is less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the town of Jammu, where explosions were reported hours earlier the same day.
\nThe stadium was swiftly evacuated and players including the 35-year-old Starc whisked out of the ground in the team bus.
\nStarc told the Delhi Capitals that he will not return, Australian media reported, freeing him up to focus on the build-up to his country\u2019s World Test Championship final against South Africa on June 11 at Lord\u2019s.
\nThere was no immediate confirmation from the Delhi team or the IPL.
\nAustralia captain Pat Cummins and star batter Travis Head will both return to India, but the plans of other Australians is unclear.
\nThe league\u2019s suspension has thrown its schedule off kilter, with the playoffs now starting later and the final moved back nine days to June 3.
\nGujarat Titans top the 10-team table and are almost sure to reach the playoffs starting May 29.
\nBut wicketkeeper Buttler will leave the team after the group stage and will be replaced by the Sri Lankan Kusal Mendis, allowing the Englishman to be available for the first ODI against the West Indies.
\nEngland all-rounders Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks, who play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians respectively, are also expected to leave the IPL early, the BBC reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Starc told Delhi Capitals that he will not return, freeing him up to focus on WTC final against South Africa NEW DELHI Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc will not return to the disrupted Indian Premier League, reports said Friday, while England\u2019s former white-ball captain Jos Buttler will leave before the playoffs. The world\u2019s richest cricket […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-479028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n