Mitchell Marsh - Australia - Batting Allrounder

Mitchell Marsh is the younger brother of Australian batter Shaun Marsh and the son of Australia's former opener, Geoff Marsh. Unlike his father and elder brother, Mitchell has worked on the art of fast bowling. He classifies as a hard-hitting all-rounder who bats in the middle-order. He started playing competitive cricket at the age of 17 and plays for Western Australia in the domestic circuit. Marsh found success early in his career. He was appointed Australia’s U19 captain and he led his team to victory in the 2010 U19 World Cup. Marsh’s personal best in that series was a match-winning 97 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka. Even before he made his senior international debut, he was roped in by the IPL side Deccan Chargers in 2010. He eventually went on to play for his country against South Africa in a T20I at Wanderers in 2011.

He became a bit of a T20 agent at a very young age. He was drafted into the Pune Warriors squad in 2011 and he was with them until 2013. He also played for the Nagenahira Nagas in the Sri Lanka Premier League. Back home in Australia, he has been a regular member of the side for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League since its inception in 2011.

On the back of some impressive performances, the Australian selectors named Marsh in the squad for the Zimbabwe tri-series and he straightaway grabbed eyeballs in the first match of the tournament, with a breezy 89. With Shane Watson being injured, Marsh made his Test debut against Pakistan during Australia's tour to the UAE in October 2014 and he notched up a fine 87 in the Test played in Abu Dhabi. He also did well with the bat in the subsequent ODI series against South Africa and played the first two Test matches of the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, before walking off the field due to a hamstring injury on Day 1 of the second Test in Brisbane. He took no further part in the series, but the selectors picked him in the 2015 World Cup squad as he was expected to be back to full fitness.

Marsh didn't feature much in the tournament which Australia ended up winning. His only highlight was a 5-wicket haul against England. However, with a few retirements after the showpiece event, he got his opportunities and started performing well. He was able to weigh in with the bat in ODIs while his bowling was always handy. Despite having the tag of an all-rounder, it was obvious that Marsh was a better batter than a bowler. The year 2016 was memorable for him as he notched up his maiden ODI century in the home summer against India.

Marsh spent a lot of time on the bench, mostly due to injury rather than a lack of form. He found himself in and out of the Test setup and never really cemented his spot in the side. His maiden and career-best Test hundred came in 2017 in an Ashes game against Australia at Perth. The 2018-19 season saw Marsh being awarded a national contract but he didn’t feature in either of Australia’s sides on a regular basis. He was continually plagued by injuries, some of which he only had himself to blame for, like the time he broke his hand in 2019 after punching a wall following a dismissal in a Sheffield Shield game.

Perhaps his career defining knock came in the final of 2021 World T20. Marsh scored an unbeaten 50-ball 77 to help his side chase down 173 against trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand. In an innings that earned him the Player of the Match award, Marsh struck six boundaries and four maximums.

Finally free of injuries, Marsh had a massive resurgence as an international cricketer and announced his return with a resounding Ashes century in the 2023 series in England. Coming in to replace an injured Cameron Green in the 3rd Test, Marsh found himself in the middle with Australia crippled at 85/4. In what was his first Test match since 2019, Marsh held no inhibitions and played his shots with freedom. His run-a-ball 118 pushed Australia to a fighting total and although Australia ended up losing that Test, Marsh demonstrated his maturity and potential.

Marsh’s return to limited-overs cricket in his new-avatar, an opening batter, seemed to do wonders as he found some great form in both ODIs and T20Is. With some senior players being rested, Marsh was named Australia’s captain for a T20I series in South Africa and he had a successful series as both captain and batter with Australia winning the series 3-0 and him ending up as the leading run-scorer with 186 runs.

After representing the Deccan Chargers in 2010, Marsh went on to represent another now-defunct team, Pune Warriors India, for three years. In 2016, he was bought by the Rising Pune Supergiants and played just 3 games for them. Marsh returned to the IPL after a three-year absence in 2020 after being bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad but his campaign ended after just one game with him rolling his ankle. After nearly a year touring around in biosecure conditions induced by Covid-19, Marsh opted out of the 2021 edition due to bubble-fatigue. In 2022, Marsh was bought by the Delhi Capitals for INR 6.5 crore.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan and Anurag Hegde