Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has confirmed that he will not be opening the innings for Australia in the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. Marsh is currently in Australia and has been appointed the captain for the five-match ODI series against South Africa. Marsh led Australia in the recently concluded T20I series as well beating South Africa 3-0.
Speaking ahead of the first ODI against South Africa, Mitchell Marsh conceded that he is expecting to bat in the middle order in the World Cup. Moreover, he also confirmed that Travis Head is set at the said position post Aaron Finch's retirement while the other opener David Warner is one of the best ever players across all formats for Australia. "I expect to bat middle order. Things may change, but Davey is literally one of the GOATs (greatest of all time) of one-day cricket and white-ball cricket in general.
"We have Travis Head and Australia's best-ever all-three-format player there, so I dare say I probably won't be opening the batting," Marsh told AAP. Marsh opened in the India series earlier this year and returned with scores of 81, 66* and 47 in three ODIs. But David Warner returns to the ODI squad now and has opened for most of his career. The left-hander is also expected to open in the mega event and the South Africa ODI series as well.
Marsh, meanwhile, is in excellent form with the bat also scoring a lot of runs at a fair clip in the T20I series against South Africa before doing well in the Ashes series against England. "My approach now from Test cricket to T20 cricket won’t be too dissimilar. Often it's the situation of the game in Test cricket. There were times in Manchester where I couldn’t go out there and try and hit blokes for six and put pressure back on them. I just had to soak up deliveries. That is the intricacies of Test cricket. But generally my approach won't change too much now," Marsh added.
(With PTI inputs)
