From Hate to Fan Favorite: The Mitchell Marsh’s story

(Mitchell Marsh keeping his legs on the ICC ODI World Cup Trophy)

The year was 2019 when Australia was in England playing the Ashes and their star all-rounder came to the press and said “Yeah, most of Australia hates me.” These were the words of Mitchell Marsh after he failed to capitalize on the opportunities given to him in that series. After making his debut for the Australian team in 2011, Mitchell Marsh hasn’t been a regular member of the team. After playing under captains like Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, George Bailey, Steve Smith, and others, Mitchell Marsh is now finally going to captain the Australian team in the 2024 T20 World Cup. But how this transformation took place is just amazing and it's the year 2023 that made him a regular member of the team.

Mitchell Marsh’s career before 2021

Mitchell Marsh came into the Australian ODI team in 2011 and at that time, the Australian team was in need of All-Rounders. Along with Shane Watson, the team management wanted to groom this young man who could bowl well and was a hitter in the middle order. Named “Bison”, Mitchell Marsh was big in size and hence it allowed him to have the power to play big shots. Coming to test cricket, he made his debut against Pakistan in 2014 and then played a pivotal role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India in the same year. However, being injury-prone, most days of career were in rehabilitation.

(Mitchell Marsh in the T20 series against India in 2012)

Since 2017, Mitchell Marsh has been coming in and out of the team because of injury issues and hence it was becoming difficult for the youngster to get his career aligned. But in the Ashes 2017, Steve Smith gave him a chance in the 3rd test match and he repaid the faith by scoring 181 runs in the first innings of the test match and proved to be a crucial player in giving Australia a win in that match. Even in the 4th test match, he along with Steve Smith helped the team to draw a test match and then in the 5th match, he got another century to seal the series for the Australian team.

However, after the Ashes, he was again injured and the saga continued. Even after returning to the team in Ashes 2019, he was again injured after he punched the wall of the dressing room and hence it made him miss the test series against Pakistan that year. Moreover, his numbers during that period were also average and hence despite having the skills, the Australian team wasn’t able to use him well in that period of his career.

How Mitchell Marsh made his name in 2021

2021 was the year of the T20 World Cup and Australia was in desperate need of a number 3 batter as Steve Smith's numbers at the same position were not enough for the management to go with him. Australia played a gamble in the bilateral series against West Indies and promoted him to the number 3 position to see how he can contribute to the team. In just 5 matches, he amassed 219 runs with a strike rate of 152.08 and was the top run-scorer of the series. Furthermore, in the series against Bangladesh, he again went on to be the top run-scorer of the series by having 156 runs from just 5 innings played.

Seeing this, the Australian team gave him the permanent number 3 spot and in the T20 World Cup, he went on to score 185 runs from just 5 innings and had a strike rate of 146.82. Moreover, he was the Man of the Match in the Finals against New Zealand as he made 77 runs from 50 balls and helped the Australian team chase a total of 172 runs. After this event, Mitchell Marsh was rated highly among the Australian players and even on social media, the fans started praising him because of the way he played in the whole tournament.

(Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell celebrating after winning the T20 World Cup)

After cementing his place in the T20 side, Mitchell Marsh was called back into the ODI and Test squad too for the upcoming matches. However, in the meanwhile, he was again injured and spent 12 months recovering from the ankle surgery. He missed the big series like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and other ODI series which made the fans doubtful about his presence in the team for the other major events coming up in the year 2023.

Mitchell Marsh's Breakthrough Year in Cricket

After missing the Test series against India in 2023, Mitchell Marsh made his return to International cricket in the ODI series against India. Australia registered a 2-1 series win against the Indian team and it was Mitchell Marsh who got the Man of the Series because of his 194 runs from 3 matches that included 2 half-centuries for him. This proved to be a major event for him and after playing for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, he was included in the test squad of the Australian team for the Ashes 2023 in England.

However, with Cameron Green already in the playing XI, Mitchell Marsh had to wait for his chance and hence it was the 3rd test match where he was included in the playing XI and he straightaway made his impact felt. In the first innings of the match when Australia was struggling, he went on to score a century and helped the Australian team to get back into the match. In the whole series, he scored 250 runs from the 3 matches played and got a century along with a half-century to his name.

(Mitchell Marsh scored a century for the Australian team in Ashes 2023)

After the Ashes, Australia toured South Africa next and Mitchell Marsh was named the captain of the team. In the T20 series, Australia managed to whitewash the South African team and Marsh was named as the Player of the Series for scoring 186 runs in 3 innings played at a strike rate of 186 for the team. However, in the ODI series, Australia lost by 3-2 and Marsh was able to score only 123 runs from the 5 innings played.

Then came the biggest event of cricket which was the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Australia lifted their 6th ODI World Cup and Mitchell Marsh played an important role for the team after he was awarded the number 3 position to bat. In the 10 matches played by him, he managed to score 441 runs at an average of 49 for the team. However, he didn’t stop here as in the test series against Pakistan, he again came out well and was the highest run scorer with 344 runs to his name in 5 innings and also got a Man of the Match in the 1st test.

At the start of 2024, Australia toured New Zealand for a T20 series where Mitchell Marsh was the captain of the side and under him, they whitewashed New Zealand and he was named as Man of the Series for scoring 98 runs in 3 matches and picking up 2 wickets for the team. Coming to the test series, he again proved his mettle by scoring 80 runs in the fourth innings when Australia was chasing a total of 280 runs.

(Mitchell Marsh with the Allan Border Medal 2024)

In the Australian Cricket Awards, Mitchell Marsh was awarded the Allan Border Medal which is given to the best performer of the Australian team in the previous year. Marsh's outstanding contributions throughout the season earned him this honour, highlighting his significant impact on the team's success. His receipt of the Allan Border Medal underscores his dedication, skill, and commitment to excellence in cricket.