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The ODI World Cup 2023, scheduled to commence on October 5 in India, is set to witness intense competition among top-ranked teams, including the hosts India, England, and Australia. Aussies, who are the five-time World Cup champions, will be looking to add another title to their impressive trophy cabinet. Their last victory in the competition dates back to 2015 under the captaincy of Michael Clarke. This time, fast bowler Pat Cummins will lead the Australian squad.
With the global showpiece event just around the corner, one of the key discussions within the Australian camp revolves around the opening batters’ slots. Regarding the same, Australia’s batting coach, Michael di Venuto, has recently named David Warner, Travis Head, and Mitchell Marsh as the top contenders for this pivotal role.
Di Venuto terms Marsh as a natural leader
Di Venuto reckoned that Marsh and Head have impressed with their consistent performance. He offered some specific praise for Head’s performance in the 3rd T20I against the Proteas where the left-handed batter smashed 91 to help his side register a clean sweep.
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“There’s lots of options for us moving forward (for) opening the batting. You look at the World Cup – David Warner comes back into the mix, Mitch Marsh, Travis Head, they’ve all got good form recently, they can all put a case forward to open the batting at the World Cup. Tonight, Trav was really good, he stood a lot stiller and reacted the ball really well to the ball. He can hit all around the ground,” said Di Venuto as quoted by cricket.com.au.
Further, Marsh, in particular, received high praise from Di Venuto, who described him as a natural leader whose game has elevated since taking on a leadership role within the Australian side.
“Mitch is a natural leader and has been for us for a long time. Now we’ve got the ‘C’ next to his name, so he’s got a bit more responsibility out on the field. He’s been batting like that for the last couple of years, he’s playing beautifully in short-form cricket. We saw him transfer that form into Test cricket during the Ashes, he’s full of confidence in his own game and has been for a period of time,” added Di Venuto.
