Mitchell Marsh first played in the IPL in 2010. He played 20 matches for three franchises between 2010 and 2016, of whom 13 were in the 2013 season alone. Barring the occasional quick thirty-odd, there was hardly a performance to write home about. He mainly made it as a bowler who would sometimes bowl his full quota (he averaged 16 balls per match), though when he did, it was often a decent performance.
It is difficult for an overseas cricketer to stay relevant in the IPL with a role like that. A cricketer’s value is often determined by the number of balls they dominate, with bat or ball. The most-valued overseas IPL cricketers are often outstanding bowlers (who bowl 24 balls per match) or top-order batters.
Delhi Capitals’ Mitchell Marsh and David Warner during their IPL 2022 match against Rajasthan Royals in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. Sportzpics
There are exceptions to this ‘rule’, like Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard. However, both of them bowl. They can also be so devastating in their primary job, of hitting, that their impact is often more than most top-order batters. Marsh’s batting had no such impact until 2016.
He earned a recall for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2020. He played in their first match, against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He twisted his ankle after bowling two balls. Two balls after that, he left the ground, unable to finish the over.
He emerged at No. 10 later that night, when Hyderabad needed 22 to score off two overs. He hobbled to the other end when Sandeep Sharma called for a single. As Marsh prepared for the slog – he was not going to run – Shivam Dube bowled as far away from him as the laws allowed him to. Marsh was out, caught. The team physiotherapist had to accompany him on the way out.
Five balls – four while bowling, one at the crease – was his entire contribution in the IPL between 2016 and 2021.
With three Orange Caps while striking around 140, David Warner is arguably the greatest batter – Indian or overseas – to have played in the IPL. He also led Hyderabad to their only title, in 2016. However, he had a horror run in 2021, scoring only 195 runs at a strike rate of 108.
Warner was not merely sacked as captain: he was dropped from the XI after eight matches by a franchise that has retained Kane Williamson, his successor, despite scoring 199 runs at 96 in 11 matches.
Then came the 2021 T20 World Cup, where Warner regained his mojo, scoring 289 runs at a strike rate of 147. He was named Player of the Tournament. Marsh, batting up the order, got 185 runs at the same rate as Warner’s. In all T20 Internationals, Marsh strikes at a mere 125, but that goes up to 132 when he bats at No. 3 – a position where he was used only as late as in 2021.
Until 2021, Delhi Capitals went in with an Indian-only top order, consisting of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant. Ahead of 2022, they backed the two quicker scorers – Shaw and Pant – and released the other two. They needed two big names, an opener and a middle-order batter, and did not mind if they were overseas cricketers.
They got one of the finest openers in IPL history, and the Player of the Match in the T20 World Cup final – a man who can also chip in with valuable overs.
Unfortunately, the Australian contingent arrived late. And once they did, Marsh went down with COVID-19. It took Delhi time to find both men together. Warner, of course, took off from where he had left two seasons ago, convincing the fans that 2021 was an aberration.
But Delhi had other problems. Despite the heroics of Kuldeep Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed and the consistency of Mustafizur Rahman, the bowling attack struggled. Anrich Nortje, one of their retentions, struggled with injuries. Shardul Thakur’s batting efforts were not enough to make up for his erratic bowling. Axar Patel bowled accurately without taking wickets.
All this meant that the batters needed to make up. Shaw and Pant stuck to their usual roles, and the persistence with Rovman Powell paid off. However, the fact remained that barring Warner, only two Delhi batters – Pant (two) and Powell (one) – had scored fifties in the tournament.
Delhi had backed their approach of relentless hitting. Six of their batters have scored over 100 runs while striking at over 140. Losing wickets frequently is expected if one adopts a high-risk approach, but they were losing wickets too frequently for comfort.
Delhi would have stayed in the Playoffs hunt even if they lost to Rajasthan Royals last night, especially because of their net run rate, which is the best by some distance among every other team outside the top three. However, for the net run rate to come into contention, they needed a win.
Their bowlers, helped by Rajasthan’s questionable selections and batting order, did their bit, ensuring Delhi had to chase only 161 on an easy wicket.
But Trent Bout struck back, taking out KS Bharat with the second ball before Delhi scored a run. They needed 161 in 118 balls with nine wickets in hand when Marsh joined Warner. Six months ago, Australia needed 158 in 105 balls when they lost their first wicket to Boult: the same two batters had sealed the match.
It was almost too similar. Warner and Marsh had started cautiously that night, taking Australia to 43/1 after the Powerplay. Here, they reached 38/1 against a smaller target. They have been there, done that before, not too long ago.
They did not mind seeing the new ball off. As with the World Cup final, they knew they had an army of hitters to chase down anything if they got a platform. The target, a mere 161, allowed them that cushion. They hit only two fours and two sixes in the Powerplay.
Then, when Kuldeep Sen – the least experienced bowler in a very strong Rajasthan attack – came in the seventh over, Marsh went for the straight boundary, slamming two sixes – after having hit two in the Powerplay. The four sixes kept Delhi’s asking rate under control.
Warner, content to play a defensive role until now, played out R. Ashwin as well, but when Yuzvendra Chahal pitched short, he deposited him into the stands over mid wicket. Chahal beat his bat, even hit the stumps, but the bails clung on. So did Warner.
At this point the asking rate was a mere 8.54. So clinical were Warner and Marsh at finding the boundary that it never went past 9.40. When it hit 9.40 – after 15 overs – it was too late for Rajasthan. Delhi took 15 off each of Ashwin and Boult to reduce the rest to a formality.
They won with 11 balls to spare, four more than they did in that World Cup final, while chasing a target slightly higher.
Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketNews and co-author of Sachin and Azhar at Cape Town
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