Published on: Sep 10, 2018 1:11 pm IST|Updated on: Sep 13, 2018 3:22 pm IST
Shaun Marsh (Australian Cricketer)
One of the most enigmatic cricketers of the generation, the curious case of Shaun Marsh has been about remarkable talent and startling inconsistency.
Son of the legendary Rod Marsh, Shaun featured in two U-19 World Cups (1999 and 2001) but his stocks soared for the first time when he ended up as the leading run-scorer in the 2007-08 Pura Cup (663 runs). He backed it up with a staggering inaugural IPL season where he racked up 616 runs at an average of 68.44.
With such astounding returns, a nation call was always on the cards and Marsh was on the plane to the West Indies. He kicked off his ODI career with a half century.
One of the major strength of Marsh has been the ease with which he plays the spinners and it was testified to the hilt when he scored his maiden Test ton on the slow and low pitches of Sri Lanka in 2011. However, a string of inconsistent performances against India at home in 2011-12 and subsequent injuries thereafter derailed his career before he was recalled in 2014 for the tour of South Africa. Marsh backed it up with a crucial 148 that helped Australia win the match, but a couple of ducks in the next game again saw him on the sidelines. He continued to remain on the sidelines till 2015 before making fluent 183 against the West Indies. With the competition for places in Australia’s middle-order up for grabs, Marsh continued to hold on his spot for the tour of India in 2017 where he played a couple of dodged innings before scoring a match-winning century at the Adelaide Oval against England last summer.
With Warner and Smith banned for 12 months, Marsh has emerged as a senior member of the side and string of consistent performance would go a long way in him nailing down his spot in the middle-order.