Mitchell Marsh is attempting to get over a dismal Twenty20 World Cup campaign, but the Australian all-rounder acknowledges that he hasn’t yet found his rhythm in the Indian Premier League and that the Lucknow Super Giants desperately need some motivation.
Last year, Marsh scored 627 runs at an average of 48.23 in the IPL, including his highest score in the format with an innings of 117 off 64 balls against Gujarat Titans.
However, the 34-year-old has fallen well short of those high expectations this year, scoring just 155 runs at an average of 25.83 in the first six games.
Marsh is aware that he needs to recover form quickly because Lucknow is currently ninth out of ten teams in the IPL after three straight defeats.
“I probably haven’t got going. I think you can maybe search a little bit too much at times. I know that I’m probably one or two boundaries away from really getting going and it’s about being consistent with my preparations and knowing that it will come,” Marsh was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Lucknow might miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year with just two victories from their opening six games, but Marsh believes there is still time to turn things around.
“It’s a long tournament and we’ve got great belief that we can challenge the best teams in the competition … I think if we can put together a full 40 overs as a unit, we’re going to be very hard to break,” he said.
Marsh was set to play a significant role in Australia’s T20 World Cup in February and March after helping the Perth Scorchers win the Big Bash League in January. However, his campaign was disrupted by a groin injury.
Australia’s first group stage elimination since 2009 was caused by defeats by Zimbabwe and co-hosts Sri Lanka.
“Pretty much every game is a knockout game with the way that it’s structured up … one failure can cost you a spot in the knockout stage. Those conversations have happened behind closed doors,” Marsh stated, while adding he didn’t want to talk about how the team handled the early exit.
Marsh declared that helping Lucknow win their first IPL trophy was now his top priority.
“I’ve got great faith in this group … our best cricket is ahead of us,” he added.
