Ranchi can help Marsh turn corner
RANCHI: Amid the heights attained by Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Steve Smith, this Test has also been quite a story for Kings XI Punjab mates Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Marsh.
Maxwell’s maiden hundred went a long way in strengthening Australia’s position in the first innings but without Marsh’s fiercely resistant vigil, along with Peter Handscomb, the tourists might have been heading to Dharamsala trailing 1-2 in the series.
Marsh is one of those Australia players who have had more success away than at home. On his debut Test, against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in 2011, he had scored a 315-ball 141 before scoring 81 off 207 balls at the SSC Colombo.
Australia drew both Tests to win the series 1-0. Even though both were first-innings knocks, Marsh showed a glimpse of his ability to bat out time even then too.
Ranchi however was far more difficult. Although Marsh did end up almost gifting his wicket to Jadeja, he negated R Ashwin so well that he literally looked subpar. The key to drawing this Test was to blunt at least one spinner and despite Ashwin spinning the ball away from him, Marsh accomplished the job with authority.
Of the 197 deliveries faced by Marsh in his innings, 91 were bowled by Ashwin. Marsh scored just 19 runs off those deliveries with 80 balls as dots. Most of the dots came from a solid forward defence as Marsh tried to meet the pitch of the balls.
Marsh however couldn’t have pulled off Australia’s heist in Ranchi without Handscomb’s help. Marsh’s India connect has been layered. One of the more popular Australians on the IPL circuit, Marsh didn’t have the best of times against India in the longer format. After his Sri Lanka debut and decent outing in Cape Town, Marsh returned scores of 0,3, 0, 11, 3 and 0 in the home series against India. Despite the strong debut and good domestic performances, Marsh has been on the fringes. This tour could however prove to a turning point in his career.