Australia's T20I skipper Mitchell Marsh has confirmed that he will team up with Travis Head at the top, starting from the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. Marsh batted at number 3 since 2021, and the move paid rich dividends as the veteran scored runs at a brisk clip and was a force to reckon with. The all-rounder's best knock at number 3 came when he stormed his way through a match-winning performance in the T20I World Cup final against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2021 held in the UAE.
However, ever since David Warner retired from the shortest format of the game, Australia has failed to find a destructive batter to partner with Head. Jack Fraser McGurk, Matthew Short, and Cooper Connolly were tried at the top, but all three batters failed to make the opening spot their own. In a selfless move, Marsh has decided to promote himself and has also stated he will partner with Head for the foreseeable future.
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"It'll be myself and Heady (Travis Head) up the top for the foreseeable future," Marsh said in Darwin ahead of the three-match T20I series against South Africa. Obviously, we've played a lot together, got a great relationship, so (we'll) start there. As a group leading into the World Cup, the messaging has been about requiring guys to be flexible."
Want to be flexible with the batting line-up: Mitchell Marsh
Mitchell Marsh further went on to state that he wants to be flexible with the batting order. In the recent T20I series against West Indies, the Aussies unearthed Mitchell Owen as a potential finisher. Tim David was promoted at number five, and he went on to make a statement performance by smashing a 37 ball-100. It is this flexibility that is making the hosts' batting line-up look even more dangerous.
"We've spoken about it, we saw that in the Caribbean, that he (David) came in earlier than he would normally," Marsh said. "His skill set is made for that. The more balls he faces, hopefully, the more games he wins us."
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Marsh also spoke about returning to his role as a bowler. However, the 33-year-old said that for now, he will continue to play as a batter only.
"For me, the bowling is currently offline, but it's certainly not offline forever. At this stage, it will be series by series, we've got plenty of options," he admitted. "We've got 15 games to the World Cup, so we will keep working on the style we want to play, make sure our guys are enjoying every bit of it, and win the series."
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The first T20I between Australia vs South Africa will be played on Sunday, August 10, in Darwin. The second T20I will also be played at the same venue before the two countries travel to Cairns to play the final T20I.
