What happened to Marsh?

One day after Glenn Maxwell suffering a freak accident where he fell off a golf cart and concussed himself, Australia have suffered another major blow with Mitchell Marsh having to fly back home.

Marsh, who has been in good form in the 2023 World Cup, scoring 225 runs at an average of 37.5 with one hundred and one fifty, will be unavailable for an indefinite period as he had to go home for personal reasons with timeline set on his return.

Australia’s next game is against arch-rivals England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Currently sitting fourth on the points table with eight points from six games, Australia are in a tricky situation where they can’t afford to lose too many games with Afghanistan and Pakistan trailing them at sixth and fifth spots respectively.

While Maxwell has been ruled out of the England game and is expected to be fit an available for the games after that, there’s no clarity on when Marsh will be available next.

Mitch has returned home for personal reasons and is out of the World Cup indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/jIy2LGJkcI

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) November 2, 2023

Having started the 2023 World Cup as an opener in the absence of Travis Head, Marsh scored an epic hundred against Pakistan in Bengaluru, adding the second-highest opening partnership in World Cup history with David Warner.

However, once Head returned, Marsh had to shift back down to No.3, where he scored 36 off 51 balls against New Zealand in Dharamsala. His bowling has not been utilised much, however. He has bowled only seven overs in three games, taking two wickets at an average of 21.5.

Marsh will be a big miss for Australia, especially with Maxwell being unavailable as well. Two out of the three of Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, and Cameron Green will have to fill in their boots, leading to a shift in the balance of the side. How Australia navigate this tricky situation will be interesting.