To be fit for next year’s ICC Men’s cricket World Cup in India, top Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will be undergoing ankle surgery. As a consequence, he will likely miss Australia’s tour of India at the end of the home season.
According to ICC, the 31-year-old Marsh’s decision will result in him missing the entire summer of cricket in Australia.
Marsh has endured recurring issues of the left ankle, with persistent pain almost curtailing his T20 World Cup campaign on home soil. The Australian cricket will undergo a keyhole surgery where loose bone fragments will be removed and the damaged cartilage will be repaired, in a bid to be fully fit.
Marsh was not selected in Australia's home Test squad to take on the West Indies but was a traveling member of Australia's most recent tour of Asia, a two-match series against Sri Lanka in July.
Since the 2019 Ashes, Marsh has not played a Test match. The all-rounder was looking forward to touring India for Australia's Border-Gavaskar series. The Border-Gavaskar series is a pivotal series in Australia’s World Test Championship final push.
“Mitchell is an important member of our squads, and we will support him through his recovery period and we are hopeful he will be available for Australian selection for the ODI series against India in March”, said the Australian chair of selectors George Bailey in a statement.
He further added, “In undertaking the surgery now, it gives Mitchell the best chance to recover and resume his all-rounder skillset which is an important part of our plans for the upcoming year and beyond.”
All-rounder Glenn Maxwell will be joined by Marsh. Together they will watch from the sidelines after a freak injury in mid-November. Maxwell fell and fractured his left fibula in an innocuous fall at a friend's house after Australia's unsuccessful T20 World Cup defense.
