Mitchell Marsh to Bat Only in Australia's T20 World Cup Opener

Australia's T20 World Cup campaign will begin without the bowling services of skipper Mitchell Marsh, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Marsh will play solely as a batter in their opening match against Oman on June 6.

Marsh has participated in Australia's two warm-up games against Namibia and the West Indies, but he has not bowled in either match. Matthew Wade has taken over captaincy duties in Marsh's absence.

"For Mitch, (the warm-up games) was about ticking off where his body was at," McDonald said. "He fielded more overs tonight (in the warm-up against West Indies), he was able to move more freely, so he's building a little bit of confidence there. It looks as though he's all set for the first game."

Marsh played only four matches for Delhi Capitals in the IPL due to a hamstring niggle. He returned to Australia in late April to continue his rehabilitation.

"The second part is just when the bowling comes back online... it won't be the first game," McDonald said.

Australia's warm-up match against the West Indies exposed the absence of several key players, including Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, and Travis Head.

"It was by design, in terms of when we were getting people back after the IPL; we were well aware we weren't going to get the squad together until the first of next month," McDonald said.

"We've got some things in place where we'll bring the group together, we'll work through our plans leading into Oman and there's a bit of space between that game and (playing) England."

Australia will face defending champions England in Barbados on June 9.

"We feel as though we have plenty of time to bring that group together. It's a familiar group, they've played a lot together. If they hadn't played a lot together then the prep might have looked different," McDonald added.

"We feel comfortable though as they know how to play with each other. It will just be finalising the XIs for the games, and the balances that we want. We've got plenty of options."

Tags: #MitchellMarsh, #T20WorldCup, #Australia, #HamstringInjury, #AndrewMcDonald