Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh said that his side was confident of doing well in ICC T20 World Cup 2021, despite poor form.
Coming into the T20 World Cup 2021, Australia was not in the greatest of form as they had only 8 wins in 24 T20I encounters and were pounded by the Bangladesh and West Indies in bilateral T20I series, inviting a lot of criticism for their performances.
However, they replied to all the critics in style as showing some sensational performances in the ongoing T20 World Cup and won 4 out of their 5 matches to book their berth in the semi-finals.
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Mitchell Marsh, who scored 53 runs in Australia’s win against West Indies on Saturday (6th November) admitted that their form before the T20 World Cup suggested that they will struggle but with the amount of experience, exciting players they were confident.
“Our form lines pre-World Cup probably suggested that we were going to struggle. But I think, when you look down our line-up when we're a full-strength side, with the amount of experience, exciting players, some of the best T20 players in the world inside this team, we were really confident,” Mitchell Marsh told reporters.
Marsh said though there were a lot of ‘dangerous’ teams in the tournament, Australia was confident and as a team, they ‘gelled’ well. He added that they’ve gained momentum going into the semi-finals and hopefully they can continue that.
"There's a lot of dangerous teams in T20 cricket but we were confident and now we're in the finals anything can happen. As a team we've just come over here, we've gelled really well together and I think that's really important throughout a World Cup. There are good vibes in this team right now. We've gained a bit of momentum going into the semi-finals and that's what you need, so hopefully, that can continue for us,” he said.
Australia on Sunday (7th November) got the nod ahead of South Africa for the place in the semi-finals based on their Net Run Rate and will now take on ‘rampaging’ Pakistan side in the second semi-final of the tournament at Dubai.
While talking about playing against Pakistan, Mitchell Marsh acknowledged that the Babar Azam-led side had a dangerous side and said that with great experience in his side as well it should be a fantastic match.
"Everyone knows how dangerous Pakistan is, they've got great experience, great depth in their bowling. They're a very all-around side. But in saying that I think we are too. We've got great experience, we've got plenty of depth with both bat and ball, so it should be a fantastic match-up,” he said.
(Reuters inputs)
