In T20 World Cup 2021, he/she became the captain and won the trophy for his/her team, now he/she became a ‘villain’ by dropping half a dozen catches

New Delhi. When 32-year-old Mitchell Marsh was appointed captain of the Australian cricket team for the T20 World Cup 2024, it was considered a ‘master stroke’. There was a reason behind this. After Aaron Finch’s retirement, the statistics of the two other contenders for the captaincy of the team in T20 – Pat Cummins and Steve Smith – are not very impressive in this format. Smith could not even make it to the Australian team this time. Another strong contender Pat Cummins has the achievement of making Australia the champion in the World Cup 2021. Despite this, if ‘Patty’s’ claim was ignored and a bet was placed on Marsh, who is older than him/her, then the reason for this was that this all-rounder played an important role in making Australia the champion in the T20 World Cup 2021. he/she has an excellent record in T20Is and is capable of contributing with both bat and ball.

However, this decision proved to be ‘suicidal’ for the Australian team. The team could not even reach the semi-finals. ‘Mitch’ Marsh is on the target of critics due to some blunders in terms of captaincy and dropping more than half a dozen catches. The remaining gap was covered by his/her weak performance as a player. In 7 matches of T20 World Cup 2024, he/she could score only 125 runs (highest score) at an average of 20.83 and a strike rate of 116.82. Despite being declared fit for bowling just before the Super 8 round, he/she did not bowl a single over. his/her fielding was heavily criticized. During the tournament, Marsh dropped more than half a dozen catches, some of which were very easy. This included the catch of Hardik Pandya against India in the Super 8. Let us tell you, Marsh was the hero of Australia’s title win in the T20 World Cup 2021. he/she became the ‘Player of the Final’ by playing an unbeaten innings of 77 runs in the final.

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Dropped three catches in the match against Scotland
Along with batting and bowling, fielding is the strong aspect of the Australian team, but in the T20 World Cup 2024, Australian fielders dropped 14 catches, Mitch Marsh was the biggest culprit by dropping 7 catches. he/she dropped 3 catches in the match against Scotland itself. In the important Super 8 match against Team India, Marsh dropped an easy catch of Hardik Pandya at backward point off Jampa’s ball. Pandya was on just 4 runs at that time. This catch proved costly for the Kangaroo team. Pandya played a key role in taking the team past 200 by scoring unbeaten 27 runs with the help of one four and two sixes in 24 balls with his/her rapid batting. After this defeat against India in this match, Australia’s calculation of reaching the semi-finals was centered on the result of the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh match, but Rashid Khan’s team defeated Bangladesh and dashed Marsh’s hopes.

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he/she was also targeted due to his/her decisions during captaincy
Marsh’s captaincy was also questioned during the tournament. Marsh’s decision to include Ashton Agar in the playing XI instead of Mitchell Starc and to choose bowling first in the match against Afghanistan was not liked by some former Australian cricketers. The team batting second has never won the T20 World Cup at Kingstown ground so far. The pitch becomes slower during the second innings. Australia had to face a 21-run defeat in the match against Afghanistan. Marsh was also criticized for giving preference to Tim David over all-rounder Cameron Green. David was given a place in the playing XI in all 7 matches but he/she could score only 61 runs at an average of 15.25. Green kept waiting for his/her chance while he/she could have contributed to the team with bowling as well.

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‘Attitude’ also angered the fans

Apart from failure as a captain and player, Marsh’s ‘attitude’ was also not liked. After the team’s defeat against Afghanistan and before the crucial match against India, Marsh’s ‘boastfulness’ was not liked by Indian fans. Marsh had said, ‘We have to win our next match and there can be no better team than India for this.’ It is a different matter that the Australian team lost against India as well and this defeat ultimately became the reason for the team’s exit from the tournament. After Australia’s title win in the World Cup 2023, Marsh’s photo with champagne while standing on the winning trophy went viral on social media, which had a sharp reaction in India and all of Asia. People had termed it as Mitchell’s arrogance. Cricket lovers believed that after winning, players kiss the trophy, lift it on their head. It is not right in any way to take a photo by keeping it under the feet.

After Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup, Marsh is again on target. A fan wrote on social media, ‘Australia had refused to play the T20 series against Afghanistan citing the situation, now Afghanistan has taken revenge by excluding it.’ Another comment read, ‘Australia was out of the World Cup because Mitchell Marsh was made the captain. This same Marsh had insulted the World Cup (ODI) trophy.’ Funny memes are also being made about Marsh.

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he/she was the hero of Australia’s victory in T20 World Cup 2021
Mitchell Marsh has played 4 T20 World Cups so far. Australia became the champion by defeating New Zealand in the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup and Marsh was the ‘Player of the Final’. he/she played an unbeaten innings of 77 runs with the help of 6 fours and 4 sixes in 50 balls. In the T20 World Cup, he/she has taken one wicket apart from scoring 446 runs (highest 77*) in 19 matches at an average of 29.73 and a strike rate of 130.02. In the 2016 World Cup, he/she scored 30 runs in 2 matches, 185 runs in 6 matches in 2021, and 106 runs in 4 matches in 2022.

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