Andrew McDonald believes Mitchell Marsh is 'all set for first game' of T20 WC 2024
May 31, 2024
New Delhi [India], May 31 : Australia head coach Andrew McDonald opened up on skipper Mitchell Marsh's recovery and said that the all-rounder is all set for the first match of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Marsh suffered a hamstring injury during the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he was taking part for the Delhi Capitals (DC). Following that he has not played at any games in the T20 tournament.
In an interview with cricket.com.au, McDonald said during the warm-up match against West Indies, Marsh was only seeing where his body was at for which he fielded more freely.
"For Mitch, (the warm-up games) was about ticking off where his body was at. He fielded more overs tonight, he was able to move more freely, so he's building a little bit of confidence there. It looks as though he's all set for the first game. The second part is just when the bowling comes back online... it won't be the first game," McDonald was quoted by cricket.com.au as saying.
The head coach added that the Australia team management was well aware they wouldn't get their full squad due to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
"It was by design, in terms of when we were getting people back after the IPL; we were well aware we weren't going to get the squad together until the first of next month," he added.
The T20 World Cup 2024 will be Marsh's first ICC event as a skipper of the Aussie squad.
The extravagant tournament will begin on June 1, with the United States and Canada playing the opening match. Australia open their T20 World Cup campaign against Oman in Barbados on June 5, before Group B fixtures against England, Namibia and Scotland.
Earlier in May, Australia named their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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.
