Mitchell Marsh was in fine form in the ICC World T20 2021 as he blasted an unbeaten 50 to ensure that Australia won the World T20 for the first time in history.
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About two years prior to the ICC World T20 2021, Mitchell Marsh had made a statement that ‘most of Australia hates him.’ The criticism of Marsh had lingered for a long time. The son of Geoff Marsh and the brother of Shaun Marsh who had moderate success in the game, Mitchell was in danger of not fulfilling the potential that he came up to. Even after the ‘hates me’ statement, his returns were not so great. His ODI record was 26 in 2020 and just 19 in 2021. In Tests, he has not played since 2019, finishing that year with an average of 20.5.
To compound his woes, Marsh was getting injured frequently. The number of injuries that he sustained in that period was simply too much to comprehend. The low point came in IPL 2020, in which he was injured in the first game for Sunrisers Hyderabad and missed the whole tournament. When he was selected in the Australia squad for the series against West Indies, Bangladesh, and the ICC World T20, the skepticism around Marsh had only increased.
Even at the start of the ICC World T20, Marsh did not have a smooth run. He just managed 11 off 17 balls against South Africa in the first game and was dropped for the game against England. In his own words, Marsh admitted to having screamed in agony over the non-selection. But, on November 14, Marsh would eliminate the hate in a big way by hitting a match-winning fifty and guiding Australia to the one limited-overs title that had eluded them.
The Australian cricket team had been plagued by plenty of issues heading into the ICC World T20 2021. There was player unrest over the coaching style of Justin Langer. The big players like David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith, and Pat Cummins had not toured with the side for West Indies and Bangladesh. In addition to the biobubble fatigue that was impacting their mental health, Australia did not have an ideal campaign.
The series against Bangladesh and West Indies will show that Australia lost a series against them 1-4. Tormented by spin, Australia’s familiar kryptonite was dragging them down. But, for Marsh, the numbers presented a different story. He was the leading run-scorer in both the West Indies and Bangladesh series. Consider this, Marsh’s tally of 156 runs in the 1-4 thrashing in Bangladesh was 99 more than the next best who was Ben McDermott with just 57.
In the series against West Indies, he was the only Australian player to average over 40 and strike at 150. In the mire of Australia’s massive losses, Mitchell Marsh was writing his own resurgence story. Not many would know it. But, the success of Marsh for November 14 was laid in the disasters of the Caribbean and Bangladesh.
It needed a jolt for Marsh to spring to action in the ICC World T20 2021. After the failure against South Africa, he did not get a chance against Sri Lanka and was left out of the England game. That was the moment that saw Marsh turn his career around. After Adam Zampa had spun a web around Bangladesh with 5/19, it was Marsh and David Warner who got them over line in quick time.
It was against the West Indies that Marsh came into his own. His aggressive fifty against an opponent where he started his resurgence was poetic justice. At the end of the day, Marsh and Warner were the two individuals that helped Australia end their jinx against the West Indies.
Marsh did not survive the inspired spell from Shadab Khan in the semifinal against Pakistan. But, in the final, he was determined. New Zealand knew that Marsh had a short-ball weakness on leg stump. Adam Milne, New Zealand’s paciest bowler, was ready to exploit it. But, three balls of the fourth over was all it took to change the momentum of the final. All three from Milne were short. Marsh used the pull and glide effectively to rake in 15 runs from the first four balls. New Zealand had built pressure in the powerplay. In three blows, Marsh extinguished them to set the tone.
In ICC finals, it is a known fact that Australia brings out their alpha-game in these kinds of situations. After having played out the powerplay aggressively, Marsh now had to face his second weakness against spin. Ish Sodhi was having a magnificent tournament, taking out the big names in the first over on five occasions. But, New Zealand had a weakness in Mitchell Santner as he was not utilized to the hilt in these conditions.
The lack of Santner bowling his full spell hurt New Zealand in the final. Plus, along with Warner having a go, it made Marsh’s job easier. When he had his eye in, he blasted a six and four off Sodhi to go past 600 runs in 2021, the first time any Australian has done it in the format.
In a way, the script of the World Cup was determined by Marsh and Warner’s exploits. Apart from Marsh, there were question marks even over David Warner. His form and attitude were questioned. He was dropped by Sunrisers Hyderabad not just from the playing 11 but from the squad of 15. The sight of Warner attending the matches in the stands was the catharsis for his exploits. In the end, Marsh and Warner ended up as the player of the match and tournament respectively.
Australian fans have a lot of apologizing to do to Marsh. At the same time, in this ultra-competitive world, it will again take one injury or a prolonged slump for the guns to come out for Mitchell Marsh. But, he will not be remembered fondly for ending Australia’s jinx in the ICC World T20. The hate, for now, has been extinguished.
