Mitchell Marsh, the Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder, was ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2020 in the UAE, after he had sustained an ankle injury in the franchise’s opening encounter, against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Marsh returned to Australia upon being replaced by Jason Holder in the SRH squad and is currently quarantined in Perth. But he and Cricket Australia are yet to receive reports of his scans in the UAE, which Marsh says has become a “bit of a weird situation”.
“We don’t really know what happened with the scans over in the UAE,” he said through a virtual press conference. “Cricket Australia haven’t been able to get their hands on them so it’s a bit of a weird situation. It’s really frustrating and a little unlucky. I’ve tried to dive for the ball like that probably a thousand times in my career.
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“My spikes just got caught in the wicket… it’s just one of those really frustrating injuries. I’ve been through a few now so I think I know how to deal with it. I moaned and groaned for about 48 hours in the UAE. Hopefully, I can get back for the last [Sheffield Shield] game or maybe even the last two games [before the Big Bash break] if things go really well.”
Marsh, who was returning to the IPL after a four-year gap, could bowl just four deliveries before he left the field with an injured right ankle. He later walked in to bat at No. 10 in the run-chase, only to be carried by the staff off the field as he stood in terrible discomfort having slogged his first ball straight to the long-on fielder.
Jason Holder replaces Mitchell Marsh for @SunRisers in #IPL2020. Holder played the last of his 11 IPL games in 2016.
Do you think Holder is a good choice? pic.twitter.com/mnD2eFksup
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) September 23, 2020
“I was really looking forward to playing in the IPL, having not played there for a few years but obviously it wasn’t meant to be this year,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll go for another scan this week if I can get clearance [from the Western Australian government] and then we’ll be a lot clearer on what we’re dealing with. At this stage, I’m hoping I can get back for at least one Shield game.
“I’ve been through a few [injuries] now and think I know how I deal with it. I moaned and groaned for about 48 hours while I was in the UAE – I was really disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to play in the UAE again. But now I’m getting stuck into my rehab and doing everything I can to be fully fit, whenever that is.”
