Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has shared his views on recently spat of injuries to overseas players ahead of the IPL 2026. He singled out Australia's Mitchell Starc and New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson for criticism.

Starc, who was anticipated to lead the Delhi Capitals' bowling attack, is likely to miss the first few matches due to workload management, despite not having played competitive cricket in nearly two months.

Chopra expressed his astonishment at the move, especially because other Australian quicks like Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are already out due to injuries. He also made a jab at Cricket Australia for this.

"If Mitchell Starc is also not going to come at the start, what is Cricket Australia doing? You didn't let Josh Hazlewood come, Pat Cummins isn't coming, and now you have held back Mitchell Starc, even though he is absolutely fit. He has already said goodbye to T20Is. So, what has he done in the last two months or so?" Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Chopra also highlighted that Starc has not played any cricket since the Ashes 2025-26 and asked Cricket Australia why they needed to preserve the pacer, when Australia tours India for a five-Test series later this year.

"He hasn't played any cricket after the Ashes, but despite that, you have asked him to rest because a big Test season is coming up, in which there are five Test matches against India. That's just before the next IPL. Why are you doing that now?" he observed.

He also mentioned that teams should reconsider their attitude if players start skipping IPL matches while being fit, just as a precaution.

The next player that Chopra highlighted was Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand, who was picked by PBKS for INR 2 crores. Ferguson is set to miss the first seven matches for PBKS as he wants to be with his wife to spend time with his family.

"I am thinking about Lockie Ferguson, and that's a serious one. I don't know whether he has an injury or not, but based on what I have read, he isn't available for seven matches. He is saying he wants to spend some time with the family,” Chopra said.

"He was available at the base price. He was bought for ₹2 crore. He is playing for New Zealand. Then he will go home and spend time with his family. It's not a bad thing. Don't judge anyone, but if you are leaving seven matches in the IPL after committing just because of that, then teams will have to realize that this is not right," Chopra stressed.

Although he made it clear that he was not accusing anyone of doing so on purpose, Chopra felt that there was a growing possibility of players opting for partial participation while earning pro-rata payments.