After Australia's comeback victory over Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup 2023 match during the league round on Monday (October 16), Indian great Sunil Gavaskar and young Australian opener Mitchell Marsh had a hilarious talk.
Australia eventually got off to a good start in the 2023 World Cup after three games. By a margin of five wickets, the five-time World Champions overcame Sri Lanka to claim their first victory of the competition.
Sunil Gavaskar- "Did your father not teach you to bat like this (gestures playing a defensive shot)?"
— Rohit Yadav (@cricrohit) October 16, 2023
Mitch Marsh- "I am making up for his poor strike rate." pic.twitter.com/P4GuLGFCa6
After Marsh's explosive innings of 52, which helped Australia defeat the Lankan Lions by a margin of five wickets, Gavaskar attempted to pull Marsh's legs. The Indian master questioned if Marsh had learned the forward defensive stroke from his father, former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Rod Marsh.
Mitchell Marsh launched Australia's World Cup campaign with a half-century off 39 balls, the nation's first of the tournament. Although he was run out for 51, his quickfire innings kept the innings together despite the scoreboard reading 24/2 with David Warner and Steve Smith being dismissed in quick succession.
After the game, Marsh and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had a lively talk about the Australia all-rounder's explosive hitting. Mitch's batting is a sharp contrast to his father Geoff Marsh, whose strike-rate was 55.33 through 117 ODIs compared to his son's 93.85. Gavaskar, who played with Geoff a lot throughout his active cricket career, couldn't help but notice the father-son duo's contrasting attitude.
"Did your father not teach you to bat like this (gestures playing a defensive shot)?" Because all you're doing is BANG, BANG, BANG, Gavaskar stated after the match, only to be met with a humorous response from Marsh. "I'm just making up for his poor strike-rates".
An emphatic win in Lucknow helps Australia open their account in the #CWC23 ?#AUSvSL ?: https://t.co/nOE42M6VZW pic.twitter.com/vbBfkTDmGI
— ICC (@ICC) October 16, 2023
The victory over Sri Lanka was much-needed for Australia, who will now try to maintain the momentum needed to reach the World Cup semifinals. Mitchell Marsh and Geoff Marsh would become the first father-son pair to win a World Cup if they make it to the final. Marsh Sr. won the 1987 event in India. Mitch was thrilled with his fifty and seemed destined for a huge one when Chamika Karunaratne's superb throw ran him out.
My nickname among the boys is Usain Bolt. It resembled one of those nightmares when you're trying to flee back but are unable to do so. But nevertheless, it was a great day for us. We were under a little bit of pressure going into this game after a sluggish start, but it was a full performance. There was a great deal of pain. We had great hopes coming here and wanted to make a good impression. In actuality, we faced some really talented teams and underperformed. You just cannot afford to in these major competitions, and maybe today will serve as a turning point for us," Marsh continued.
Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc
Also Read: Afghanistan's Gurbaz reprimanded for breaching Code of Conduct
Give Your Feedback