Australia’s captain Mitchell Marsh has declared himself fit and ready for the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign. The all-rounder had suffered a hamstring injury early in the Indian Premier League (IPL) season and has not played since his early April appearance for the Delhi Capitals against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
With the T20 World Cup starting in less than a week, Marsh showed promising form during a training session in Trinidad on Sunday. He confirmed his readiness to face Oman in Australia’s opening match in Barbados on June 5.
“It’s been progressively slow, but I’m finally getting there now and looking forward to getting stuck into the tournament,” Marsh told Cricket Australia. “Initially we thought it was a three-weeker, but with tendons, they can take a little bit longer and you’ve sort of got to go on feel. Once I was ruled out of the IPL, we’ve certainly taken our time to get right. And I feel lucky that I’ve had that bit of extra time, a little bit of time at home to refresh.”
Although Marsh is expected to participate in Australia’s warm-up fixture against Namibia on Tuesday, he will play solely as a batter and will not resume bowling immediately. “Probably still a little while off. I’ll start bowling hopefully soon. Get through these practice games as a batter and then we’ll ramp it up,” Marsh noted. “But it’s one of the beauties of being captain now, I don’t have to bowl myself. We’re lucky that we’ve got so many options with the ball and so much talent, Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) and Greenie (Cameron Green), and we’ve got a lot of options. So, all our planning, it allows me to be really clear on that. I’ll bowl when I need to bowl, but outside that, it’s always team first.”
The lineup for Australia’s warm-up match against Namibia in Trinidad on Tuesday remains uncertain. Many of the team’s stars will join the squad later in the week after participating in the IPL final. Players like opener Travis Head and fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc, who played in the IPL title decider, will first return to Australia for some rest before joining their teammates in the Caribbean. Travelling reserves Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short are also yet to arrive.
“Guys have been at the IPL and they have been playing a lot of cricket, so we’ve prioritized giving them a couple of days at home to see their family, refresh, and play the long game for this tournament,” Marsh said. “We’re going to be undermanned a little bit (against Namibia), but it is a practice game. And the guys that need to play will play as much as they can and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short.
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