New Delhi, May 18 : Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani has termed Mitchell Starc as â??one of the best role models in cricketâ??, saying the Australian left-arm fast bowler's influence on younger players in the dressing room is as valuable as his match-winning performances on the field.

Badani's tribute came on the back of Starc picking a devastating four-wicket haul that wrecked RRs' innings in the death overs and set the base for DC to clinch a five-wicket victory at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday night.

Despite being well-placed at 160/2 in 14 overs, RR fell seven runs short of touching 200, thanks to Starcâ??s mastery slicing through their batting order and leaving them with no ammunition for a blazing finishing touch, as only 33 runs came off the final six overs.

"I think Mitch is somebody, I don't even know where to start. I think he's possibly one of the best role models anyone can have in sport. His work ethic to himself, his preparation before the game, with his own plans and his training is above par. I don't even see that with a lot of the younger boys.

â??That's the reason why he's sustained for so long. If you go back and see the recent Ashes series, he single-handedly won them the Ashes. There was no Pat Cummins, there was no Josh Hazlewood. That pretty much tells you what that man can do,â?? Badani said in the post-match press conference.

On a pitch providing slight grip and used previously when Punjab Kings hunted down 265 last month, Starc endured a costly start, conceding 28 runs without success in his first two overs. But when skipper Axar Patel brought him back to bowl the 15th over, Starc turned the tide in dramatic fashion, giving away just 12 runs while claiming four wickets in his final two overs to dismantle RR.

What really changed was Starc making subtle changes in pace, using more of slower balls, including some of them reversing a little, and combined with his pin-point accuracy, he becomes a bowler whoâ??s really hard to be dispatched to boundary ropes.

Starc first removed Riyan Parag, who hit his fastest IPL fifty, with a slower ball which he mistimed to long-on. Donovan Ferreira was out for a duck on the very next delivery, again caught at long-on - though it was off a pace-on delivery.

After Ravi Singh flicked the hat-trick ball for four, Starc bowled another slower ball to trap him lbw, which DRS also confirmed. Starc then picked out Impact Player Dasun Shanaka with a low full toss at 142 kmph coming from around the wicket to complete his fourâ??wicket haul and derail RRâ??s batting machinery by producing the best figures for any DC bowler this season.

â??Speaking of the kind of work that he puts in with the younger lads, he's always talking to them, he's always trying to pass on the knowledge, how can you do reverse swing, how do I hold lengths, what do I do when a certain batter is going hard, do I look to pick wickets, do I look to try and be submissive and be defensive. There's immense conversation that Starcy brings to the table. I think, as I said earlier, being slightly repetitive, massive role model," added Badani.

Sundayâ??s game wasnâ??t the first time Starc repeatedly tilted contests against RR in DCâ??s favour. On May 1 in Jaipur, the leftâ??arm pacer marked his return to IPL 2026 with figures of 3-40. His influence was even more telling in last seasonâ??s encounter in New Delhi, where he nailed his yorkers and secured an unlikely victory for DC in the Super Over.

Lamenting Starc's absence for a significant portion of the season due to shoulder and elbow injuries, Badani said the situation was such that no franchise coach had any real power to change. "Ideally, I would want my players to be available to me from day one. Starc is probably one of my biggest players in my squad, and we've invested in him, and we know that he's a match winner.

â??But if there are certain things which are above my pay grade, and then certain things that are decided by associations and governing bodies, there's very little that we can do. Because if Cricket Australia does not release him, which was also the case with Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, there's little a coach or any franchise can do about that. Hopefully we have a solution to it in the future," he added.

Badani also made a special mention of seam-bowling all-rounder Madhav Tiwari, who foxed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Shubham Dubey with slower balls. Tiwariâ??s inclusion came in Dharamshala, where he shined with both bat and ball as DCâ??s bid to inject fresh blood paid off in a win.

"I think if I remember correctly about what was spoken of him was that he was somebody who liked the pressure, somebody who could bat, hit a long ball, and at the same time, somebody who could bowl through all three phases. If required, he could even bowl in the power play, which you haven't seen much of it yet.

â??But you could see it in the last game that he could move the ball and there was some shape when he bowled. Again, in the middle overs and depth overs, he's shown his prowess. So that's pretty much the reason why we felt that he could be a part of our squad.

"We just felt that we needed fresh minds, fresh legs. A couple of our senior players, unfortunately, haven't had the run that they would have. We would have ideally liked them to have. Hence we felt that it's maybe time for us to try and switch to the younger boys and we've been blessed with a couple of good wins," he concluded.

/IANS