T20 World Cup 2024: Mitchell Marsh will not bowl against Oman, confirms coach Andrew McDonald

Mitchell Marsh is all set to lead Australia in their opening fixture in the T20 World Cup 2024 against Oman in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday, June 6. However, his all-round ability will not be on display as he is going to play as a specialist batter.

Marsh suffered a right hamstring injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and returned to Australia in the last week of April after playing just four games. He went through rehabilitation and played a couple of warm-up games against Namibia and West Indies earlier this week. However, he didn't take the field for the entire innings in both the matches as Matthew Wade took over the leadership responsibilities.

Also Read: Watch: Nicholas Pooran takes Aussies to cleaners in warm-up tie, belts eight towering sixes

After Australia suffered a 35-run defeat against the West Indies on Friday, May 31, head coach Andrew McDonald said he was pleased to see the seam-bowling all-rounder fielding for more overs than the previous game against Namibia. The former Australian all-rounder said that Marsh is well on course to play their first match against Oman but will not be available to bowl.

"For Mitch, was about ticking off where his body was at. He fielded more overs tonight, he was able to move more freely, so he's building a little bit of confidence there. It looks as though he's all set for the first game," McDonald told cricket.com.au.

"The second part is just when the bowling comes back online... it won't be the first game," McDonald added.

'If they hadn't played a lot together then the prep might have looked different' - Andrew McDonald on some Australian players arriving late

Australia decided to give some rest to the players who played an active part in the IPL. The likes of Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green and Travis Head were exempted from playing the warm-up matches. The Australian players spent time back home with their families and will join the team ahead of the clash against Oman. Therefore, a full-strength Aussie squad is only going to be available when the showpiece event begins. However, McDonald isn't too concerned about this, as he asserted that the players have played a lot of cricket together in recent years.

"It was by design, in terms of when we were getting people back after the IPL; we were well aware we weren't going to get the squad together until the first of next month. We've got some things in place where we'll bring the group together, we'll work through our plans leading into Oman and there's a bit of space between that game and England," McDonald said.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Tim Paine backs Nathan Ellis to be in Australia's first-choice attack

"We feel as though we have plenty of time to bring that group together. It's a familiar group, they've played a lot together. If they hadn't played a lot together then the prep might have looked different. We feel comfortable though as they know how to play with each other. It will just be finalising the XIs for the games, and the balances that we want. We've got plenty of options," he added.