‘Shaun of the Dead’ look about Marsh

SHAUN Marsh’s feast or famine Test ride continues to polarise opinion but the veteran is now under serious pressure to perform.

Marsh is capable of the thrilling and frustrating in equal measure but his six Test centuries and nine 50s in 35 Tests have been offset by a series of failures.

The 35-year-old capped the worst run of scores under 10 by an Australian top-five bats- man for 130 years when he fell to nemesis Ravi Ashwin yesterday.

Marsh dragged a wide and full Ashwin delivery onto his stumps from the final ball of the first over after lunch.

“Full credit to Ashwin and Virat Kohli. There was fortune involved but the field was set perfectly, the carrot was dangled and he bit it nicely,” former England skipper Michael Vaughan said on Fox Sports.

“So often in the modern era you see the field drop deep for the spinners and they allow easy singles, particularly for batsman that first come to the crease. He bowled it slower and wider and said to Shaun Marsh ‘play the big shot’.

“I don’t care how good you are when you first get the crease, you are vulnerable. His eyes lit up and saw the boundary, good tactics.”

Ashwin has claimed Marsh five times in Tests at an average of 1.6.

Marsh has been dismissed for 7, 7, 0, 3, 4 and 2 dating back to the Wanderers Test against South Africa in March.

Skipper Tim Paine said Mitch Marsh was axed as the all-rounder’s numbers didn’t stack up and his older sibling must deliver in the second innings to keep his spot.

Deprived of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australian coach Justin Langer keeps faith with Marsh.

However, the Western Australian’s nervous starts have contributed to 26 Test dismissals for less than 10.