Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons Mitchell Marsh can be the Delhi Capitals’ game-changer in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Marsh has been performing consistently in the white-ball formats and recently returned to action in the ODI series against India.
The right-hander, who is known for his aggressive batting, scored 194 runs in three ODI matches against Australia at an average of 97 and a strike rate of 131.08. Ergo, he was awarded the Player of the Series for his consistent performances at the top of the order.
Marsh had also played a key role in Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup triumph under the captaincy of Aaron Finch.
The lanky batter is one of the hardest hitters in the game and he is going to hold the key for Delhi Capitals. Marsh and Travis Head gave another quick start to their team in the third ODI against India, adding 68 runs for the opening alliance on Wednesday.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head once again started as though they had some personal enmity. Mitchell Marsh is batting at a different level. He can be the Delhi Capitals’ game-changer if he keeps going like this. He will get much better pitches than this and the Kotla ground is also tiny.”
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya opened the floodgates for India as he took three quick wickets in his first spell and helped India bounce back.
“Then the three wickets come from an absolutely unfamiliar quarter because you wouldn’t think Hardik Pandya will dismiss the top three when the pitch has help for the spinners. He first dismissed Travis Head, then Steve Smith for the second time in this series, and then Mitchell Marsh as well.”
On the other hand, Australia posted 269 runs on the board after electing to bat first. However, none of the Australian batters could even score a fifty and the renowned commentator feels it happens so rarely in 50-over format.
“One more interesting thing was that no one scored a fifty. Everyone got a start, Mitchell Marsh came close, but no one scored a fifty. It happens very rarely that you reach close to 270 and still there is not even one half-century in your team.”
Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav scalped three wickets and Chopra reckons the left-arm spinner is getting ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal in the pecking order.
“One more surprising thing was that Ravindra Jadeja did not pick up a wicket. Kuldeep Yadav came and picked up three wickets. He is pushing Yuzi slightly backwards. Yuzi is a gun bowler but whenever you are giving Kuldeep a chance to bowl 10 overs, he picks up wickets, not one or two but three.”
