T20 World Cup 2024: Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh, who had earlier suffered a hamstring injury, has declared himself completely fit ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies and United States of America. Australia are set to play a warm-up fixture against Namibia, before resuming their group stage fixtures, and the 2021 T20 World Cup champions have now received a huge boost with the confirmation of fitness of the Delhi Capitals all-rounder.
Official Statement From Australian Skipper Mitchell Marsh
"It's been progressively slow, but I'm finally getting there now and looking forward to getting stuck into the tournament. Initially we thought it was a three-weeker, but with tendons, they can take a little bit longer and you've sort of got to go on feel. Once I was ruled out of the IPL, we've certainly taken our time to get right. And I feel lucky that I've had that bit of extra time, a little bit of time at home to refresh," told Mitchell Marsh to Cricket Australia, as reported by ICC's official website.
"Probably still a little while off. I'll start bowling hopefully soon. Get through these practice games as a batter and then we'll ramp it up,” Marsh noted. But it's one of the beauties of being captain now, I don't have to bowl myself. We're lucky that we've got so many options with ball and so much talent, Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) and Greenie (Cameron Green), and we've got a lot of options. So, all our planning, it allows me to be really clear on that. I'll bowl when I need to bowl, but outside that, it's always team first," he added.
The skipper also added the fact that IPL has played a crucial role in their players' preparation and that, they will be given an extra lay-off period keeping in mind the fatigue and work load.
"Guys have been at the IPL and they have been playing a lot of cricket, so we've prioritised giving them a couple of days at home to see their family, refresh and play the long game for this tournament. We're going to be undermanned a little bit (against Namibia), but it is a practice game. And the guys that need to play will play as much as they can and we'll figure it out from there," said the Australian skipper.