‘Literally perfect’: Marsh’s big claim as white-ball India series to hand Aussies World Cup boost

Australian captain Mitch Marsh believes there is no better time to be playing India than in the lead-up into a World Cup to be held on the subcontinent.

The Aussies will continue their preparation to rebound from a disappointing T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States when they host India in separate ODI and T20 series over the next three weeks.

The three-match ODI series begins in Perth next Sunday, while Australia and India will face each other in five T20 encounters later in October and early in November leading into the Ashes.

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Marsh, who lost his spot in the Australian Test team last summer but remains a prospect for the Ashes given his strong white ball form and history against England, is looking forward to what is to come.

The Western Australian said the massive crowds that attended last year’s thrilling Border-Gavaskar Trophy were an indication of just how enticing the rivalry between Australia and India has become.

“We’ll have all the guys building towards the Ashes but everyone loves playing against India,” he told foxsports.com.au.

“We’ve got a great rivalry and great respect for them as a team. I think it’s literally perfect timing to be playing against India in the lead-up to an Ashes series. It’s going to be massive.”

The Australians were busy in the white ball format through the southern hemisphere winter.

After a clean sweep in the Caribbean, they clinched a T20 series against South Africa in the Australian tropics 2-1, though the Proteas reversed that score line in the ODIs played in the top end.

Marsh, who revealed in News Corp papers on Sunday the struggle he felt after being dropped from the Test team last summer, led the Aussies to a 2-0 triumph over New Zealand across the Tasman earlier this month and said the series through winter were providing crucial information.

Aside from the T20 World Cup to be hosted in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year, Australia also had its defence of the ODI World Cup in mind, with the tournament to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October, 2027.

Stars including Travis Head and the champion trio of fast bowlers led by Pat Cummins have played major tournaments in the white ball formats alongside their Test commitments, but the Aussies will be without Starc for next year’s T20 World Cup after he retired from the format to focus on Test cricket and the defence of the ODI title in 2027.

Cummins will clearly be monitored given his current back problem, a scenario left-arm pace bowler Spencer Johnson is also facing as he tries to recover from stress fractures in his back.

Both Cummins and Johnson will undergo scans this week to determine whether they are able to resume bowling as they continue their recoveries.

With queries regarding the fitness of potential contenders, and a surplus of stick in areas including power-hitters and all-rounders, the series against India shapes as a crucial time for fringe contenders to mount their case for selection.

“I think the ODI World Cup is still a long way away, so you’re still sort of building out that team and we know that with certainly for our all three format players, it’s a near on impossible thing to play all games,” Marsh said in an interview in Brisbane last month.

“But that always brings opportunity to, like you said, keep creating as much depth as we possibly can and keep giving guys opportunities. And there’s obviously a big focus on the T20 World Cup (next year).

“It feels like every game from now is really important to us figuring out what our best team is, while still trying to create as much depth as we can, because we know there’s a lot of cricket left until we get there. The build up to the World Cup is really exciting

and can’t wait to get over there.”

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