T20 World Cup: Australia’s Mitchell Marsh ready to bowl against Bangladesh, says ‘Important to have options’

Australian captain Mitchell Marsh revealed that he will be ready to bowl against Bangladesh, if necessary, when the two sides face each other in their 2024 T20 World Cup Super 8 match on June 21. During the pre-season press conference at the match, Marsh explained that it is important that his side have all available options, citing that he would be there as the bowling choice for their Super 8 battles. Ahead of the group match against Namibia on June 12, Australian head coach Andrew McDonald expressed some skepticism about Marsh’s bowling fitness for their T20 World Cup matches, having just recovered from injury.

Marsh suffered a hamstring injury during the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with DC, which ultimately ruled out the Australian all-rounder for the rest of the tournament. The The injury had only cast a shadow of doubt about the 32-year-old’s fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup, only for Marsh to join the camp in time.

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“We are hopeful that he will be ready to bowl matches again. I would say the chances of that against Namibia are very slim, and may increase in Scotland, and then I think you should have a clear run in the Super 8s.” and can go bowling there. The assumption is that we qualify and, as I said, Namibia first and then we can start to work out what it looks like for the Super 8s and beyond,” McDonald said ahead of the match in Namibia.

However, Australia’s captain has not played a single match in the tournament so far, and the uncertainty only extends to their Super 8 matches, the first of which would be against Bangladesh.

During the pre-match press conference, Marsh explained how his side has plenty of bowling options for their Super 8 battles but will be ready to bowl whenever the need arises.

“I will be available to bowl, yes. With the line-up we have, I don’t necessarily see the need for me to bowl, but I think in this format it is very important to have options, and we’re blessed with that,” Marsh said.

Australia have a very intense catch-up ahead of them in the Super 8, where they will face an in-form Afghanistan and a powerful India after the clash in Bangladesh. The caliber of these matches could well force Marsh’s hand to cast a spell for the first time in this T20 World Cup.