Aussies’ awkward Marsh dilemma; the big loser in all-rounder squeeze: Talking Points

Australia has toppled India, defeating the cricket powerhouse 2-1 in this week’s bilateral ODI series in the subcontinent with several of their biggest names unavailable.

Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa were superb with the ball, while Mitchell Marsh was a revelation at the top of the order, all but ensuring his spot in the World Cup squad.

Meanwhile, India will look to rebuild after suffering its first ODI series defeat on home soil in four years.

‘Doesn’t happen every day’: aussies ramp up world cup prep

Australia’s World Cup preparation is off to a flying start, with the team now celebrating four consecutive series triumphs.

After defeating Zimbabwe, New Zealand and an undermanned England side during the recent home summer, the Aussies defied the odds to topple India in its own backyard with a 2-1 series triumph this week.

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson were all unavailable due to injury and family reasons, while one-day superstars David Warner and Glenn Maxwell spent most of the series on the sidelines.

And even though the ever-reliable Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne didn’t contribute much with the bat, Australia still managed to usurp India as the world’s No. 1 ODI team on the ICC rankings.

“In World Cup years it can be very easy to look too far ahead, but we really wanted to be focused on this series, and our focus was winning games for Australia,” Marsh said in the post-match press conference after the Chennai victory.

“To be able to beat the No. 1 team in the world in their backyard. It’s a great achievement. It doesn’t happen every day.

“Very proud of the lads. It’s the first step towards our World Cup.”

The Australian one-day team’s recent success has been reassuring, but they won’t reconvene until August for a five-match ODI series in South Africa, after which they will need to name their World Cup squad.

It remains to be seen whether Australia’s momentum carries across the winter, but the team’s white-ball stalwarts have proven they can quickly turn around their fortunes ahead of ICC tournaments. Two years ago, Australia won a maiden T20 World Cup title despite less-than-ideal preparation and worrying form.

Marsh’s frustrating world cup dilemma

Elevating Mitchell Marsh to No. 3 in the Australian T20 side two years ago proved a masterstroke - he plundered 77 not out in the 2021 T20 World Cup final against New Zealand to help the Aussies clinch their maiden title, earning Player of the Match honours.

The West Australian almost won that year’s Allan Border Medal purely based on his stunning T20 exploits at No. 3.

Fast forward 24 months, national selectors granted Marsh another promotion, asking him to open the batting against India this week in the absence of the injured David Warner.

And once again, it proved a masterstoke.

Marsh top-scored for Australia in all three ODIs, named Player of the Series after plundering 194 runs at 97.00 with 12 sixes.

The powerful right-hander’s 81 (65) during the series opener in Wankhede was arguably the highlight - none of his teammates scored more than 26 on a seaming wicket that undeniably favoured the bowlers.

He then smacked 66 not out from 36 balls in a low-scoring contest in Visakhapatnam, combining with Travis Head for an unbeaten 121-run opening stand to chase down India’s measly target in just 11 overs.

“To be honest it‘s pretty exciting to have 10 overs with only two (fielders) out,” Marsh said after the second ODI.

“I‘ve just got to calm myself and get to the end of the Powerplay.”

Over the weekend, India captain Rohit Sharma described Marsh as one of best power-hitters in the game.

“Definitely in the top three, top four when it comes to power,” Sharma said.

“You saw, he could just stand and deliver and play the shots. He backs himself to do that.”

Marsh had not opened the batting in his 147 previous matches for Australia, but his brute power will be vital ahead of this year’s World Cup - the only lingering question is where he best fits into Australia’s starting XI.

Keeping him at the top of the order would be tempting, but that would require one of either Head or David Warner making way.

Both have been in excellent form in the 50-over format - Warner is the team’s reigning ODI Player of the Year and leading run-scorer in 2022 with 552 runs at 42.46.

Meanwhile, Head has plundered 329 runs at 65.80 with a strike rate of 115.03 since replacing former Australian captain Aaron Finch in the ODI side.

Another option is slotting Marsh in at No. 3, which has been Steve Smith’s preferred position over the last couple of years - the solution is not immediately apparent.

“We spoke about, before the first game, this is really the start of our campaign for the World Cup and different guys will bat in different positions at times,” Marsh said.

“It’s really important we have a squad mentality. Davey has been an incredible player for Australia for a long time ... I’m sure he’ll slot back in at some stage. It’s really important we are all flexible.

“I think in World Cup years it can be very easy to look too far ahead. But we really wanted to be focused on this series, and it’s a great achievement to beat the No.1 team in their own backyard.

“It doesn’t happen every day you win here so very proud of the lads. It’s the first step towards our World Cup.”

Aussies’ all-rounder galore

How many all-rounders is too many?

Packing the middle-order with all-rounders has worked wonders for England over the last few years - they sometimes have decent batters right down to No. 10 in their white-ball sides - but finetuning the team balance for Australia’s ODI side has proven challenging, and the triumph over India has created more questions than answers.

Ashton Agar, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green have all proven themselves in the 50-over format, but can they all fit in the same starting XI at this year’s World Cup in India?

Of that quintet, Maxwell and Marsh are the only certainties - whether Agar features in the World Cup depends largely on conditions, because Maxwell is more than capable of serving as the second spinner if required.

Agar’s ODI record also leaves much to be desired - he averages 45.90 with the ball in the 50-over format, never taking more than two wickets in an innings.

Meanwhile, Stoinis has proven he knows how to bowl in Indian conditions with two wickets during the series opener in Wankhede, having taken the new ball for the first time in his ODI career.

But the West Australian’s batting form is cause for concern - he has averaged 16.09 since the start of the 2019 World Cup in England, with no fifties in 27 matches.

Then there’s Cameron Green, the $3.15 million prodigy who currently averages 50.33 with the bat and 34.30 in his short ODI career.

The raw talent is undeniable, but the 23-year-old lacks experience - he’s seemingly in a two-horse race with Stoinis for the No. 7 spot in Australia’s preferred starting XI.

With Sean Abbott also pushing his case for a plane ticket to India, national selectors have plenty to ponder over the coming six months.

India vulnerable after four-year first

The last three men’s World Cups have been won by the host nation, and India has been touted as favourites to continue that trend in 2023 - or so we thought.

India, the powerhouse of international white-ball cricket, has an impeccable ODI record on home soil, winning 36 of their 53 matches since the start of 2016.

But the Indians have now suffered their first ODI series defeat at home in four years, losing their No. 1 ICC rankings in the process.

India was far from their best against Australia this week, particularly with the bat. Only one player averaged above 40, being KL Rahul, while only two bowlers conceded less than six runs per over across the low-scoring series.

The second ODI in Visakhapatnam was, frankly, an embarrassment. India suffered its heaviest defeat in history when Australia chased the measly target in just 11 overs with ten wickets in hand.

Even during the run chase of their lone victory of the series, India lost 4-34 in a drastic top-order collapse before Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja came to the rescue.

With England going from strength to strength in the one-day formats, pundits will be questioning whether India are still favourites to lift the World Cup later this year.

“All of us were trying our best to go out and achieve that but it just didn’t happen,” Indian captain Rohit Sharma said after the third ODI.

“Obviously a loss like this really hurts. But again we can understand what we need to do better as a team, as a group.”

However, India is eagerly awaiting for several of their high-profile names to recover from injury before the World Cup, with paceman Jasprit Bumrah, batter Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant expected to return in the coming months.

‘Fake news’: Warner insta post raises eyebrows

Australia warned it would experiment with its line-up ahead of the India ODI series, but dropping David Warner down the order certainly raised some eyebrows.

The veteran opener was sidelined for the series opener in Wankhede due to the lingering elbow injury he sustained during the Test series, with Mitchell Marsh opening the batting in his absence.

Ahead of the second ODI, news emerged that Warner would also miss the Visakhapatnam contest due to a corked quad, but the 36-year-old denied the reports on social media, seemingly suggesting he was fit to play the second ODI.

“#FakeNews … #Incorrect,” he posted to Instagram alongside a screenshot of the headline.

Warner made his long-awaited return for Wednesday evening’s series decider in Chennai, but to the surprise of many was slated at No. 4 in the batting order. Only once in his 14-year ODI career has Warner previously not opened the batting, slotting into the middle-order for the 2015 World Cup group stage match against Scotland.

Marsh, who opened the batting in all three ODIs against India, top-scored for Australia in the series finale with a belligerent 47, later named Player of the Series. Meanwhile, Warner scored a sluggish 23 before botching a lofted drive against Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav, throwing his wicket away in the 25th over when Australia desperately needed a partnership.

Warner, one of the most successful ODI openers ever, boasts an impeccable record in India, averaging 51.75 in the Asian nation with two centuries in nine knocks.

The reigning ODI Player of the Year will be crucial to Australia’s success in the upcoming World Cup, but whether national selectors are looking to reinvent him as a middle-order aggressor remains up in the air.