Justin Langer Hints At Mitchell Marsh Slotting At Number Three In The T20 World Cup Should Steve Smith Miss The Tournament

Australia head coach Justin Langer has hinted at the candidate likely to occupy the number three spot in the T20 World Cup later this year. Though Australia won the ODI series against the West Indies in their backyard, the Caribbeans hammered them in the T20s before that. But Mitchell Marsh emerged as the bright spot in their 4-1 defeat and Justin Langer observed he could play the role if Steve Smith fails to recover in time for the tournament.

Steve Smith earlier declared he would be willing to miss the World Cup if he fails to recover from the elbow injury in time to be fit for the Ashes. The 32-year old is tailormade to play the role of a number three batsman; however, Mitchell Marsh did it exceedingly well in the Caribbean. In five games, the Western Australian managed 219 runs at 43.80, striking at 152.80 and. Furthermore, Marsh snared eight wickets in five matches at 11.

Justin Langer believes Mitchell Marsh has put his hands up and the number three spot would be up for debate should Steve Smith return. The 105-Test veteran also heaped praises on Ashton Agar for doing well in the final ODI, in which he took two wickets in ten overs for 31 runs.

“Certainly, Mitch Marsh has put his hand up. The No. 3 position is really interesting, depending on how Steve Smith comes up with his elbow injury. That adds real depth to our side. I also thought the way Ashton Agar played in the last ODI, he’s like a leopard in the field, and the way he batted was a real positive for us,” Langer told cricket.com.au.

I think it’s really important that the BBL does what IPL does for India: Justin Langer

Despite the recent setbacks in the shortest format, Justin Langer underlined Australia has improved as a T20 side, reminding they topped the rankings not too long ago. The Western Australian also hopes the Big Bash League plays an integral role in developing players for the national team. Langer believes at full strength, Australia should be stronger than ever.

“We’ve gotten better and better. We have had a couple of tough series with some complications and some challenges. But it was only a few months ago that we were ranked No.1 in the world and we’re very proud of that. The Big Bash is a great competition to keep developing our young Australian players, that’s really important for Australian cricket. I think it’s really important that the BBL does that for us as the IPL does for India. That will help us be a very good T20 side when the boys are all available,” he added.

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