Mitchell Marsh hopeful for a turnaround in “must-win” India game

SAINT VINCENT: Australia’s T20I captain Mitchell Marsh expressed his confidence in his team’s ability to force a turnaround in the must-win ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eights fixture against India.

Australia suffered a massive blow to their semi-final hopes after they succumbed to a shock loss against Afghanistan at Arnos Vale Ground here on Saturday.

A victory over Afghanistan would have taken Australia, alongside India into the semi-finals. But, they now need to beat India in their final Super Eights fixture, scheduled on June 24, to advance into the knockouts.

However, if India beat Australia and Afghanistan defeat Bangladesh then India and Afghanistan would go through, marking the end of Australia’s campaign.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh, consequently, termed their match against India a “must-win game” and asserted that the pressure would bring the best out of his players.

“First things first, (we have to) recover. We have a lot of belief in our group. We are a very good cricket team. Yes, tonight we had an off night but I guess there’s also a positive in the fact that in 36 hours we go again. It’s a big game, it will be against India obviously and it’s a must-win game,” stated Marsh during the post-match press conference.

“I think if you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys, so the boys will certainly be up and about for it.

“We’ve got a good bunch of people and I believe our best is up there with the best. So, we need to bring that on whatever day it is, in a couple of days’ time and move forward pretty quickly.”

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Australia, who have done exceptionally well with the bat and ball this tournament, were sloppy in the field against Afghanistan as the former champions put down five catches but Mitchell Marsh remained confident in his team’s ability in the department.

“There’s a lot of things you can look at, the reality is there’s small margins here when the scores are low,” said Marsh.

“We don’t want to have too many off nights in the field but I also believe that at our best we’re an unbelievable fielding side.

“It’s easy to look at tonight and, yes, it was disappointing but ultimately, we have 36 hours to turn it around and I still believe that our best is very good in the field.

“We certainly pride ourselves on our fielding. Can’t question the boys putting in the work. I think it’s no different to any other skill set. We put in the work, we didn’t execute in the field tonight and ultimately it played a part in us losing the game.”

READ: Mitchell Marsh reveals reason behind shock loss against Afghanistan