ICC World Cup: Australia’s Mitchell Marsh Heads Back Home (image- twitter/cricaus)
Australia World Cup campaign hit another hurdle as their star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh headed back to Perth due to personal reasons. Mitchell who flied back home on Wednesday will not be available for next couple of matches. Cricket Australia said that there is no confirmation on his return yet.
“Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh has returned home from the ICC Men”s Cricket World Cup 2023 late last night for personal reasons,” the statement said. “A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed. No further detail will be offered at this time.”
Mitch has returned home for personal reasons and is out of the World Cup indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/jIy2LGJkcI
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) November 2, 2023
This will be a major setback on Australia as Glenn Maxwell has been already ruled out of the match after suffering a concussion during a golf day on Monday, reports espn cricinfo.
But it is expected that Maxwell will return to the games in the later stages of the tournament.
The next few matches were crucial turning points for the team as they haven’t been in their best forms lately. The unavailability of Maxwell and March will surely leave a hole in the Australian XI. Most likely, Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green will be brought back into the team to fill the gap.
As a team, Australia has maintained a good form though they faced two early losses against India and South Africa. But the team has managed to win four matches in a row. Two more wins out of three left out match will confirm the team’s seat in semi-finals. The match against out-of-form England will be easy to win, despite the injury of Maxwell and absence of Marsh.
Marsh’s absence will also likely mean that the return of Steven Smith back to his preferred position No.3.
Australia will face England on Saturday, November 4 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
