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Australia T20 captain Mitchell Marsh has been cleared to play in the IPL for his new team Lucknow Super Giants as a batter-only and is set to travel early next week despite missing the Champions Trophy with a back injury.
Marsh, 33, was ruled out of the ODI tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy on January 31 due to “lower back pain and dysfunction”, which put an end to his domestic season. It was understood to be related to a disc problem that he had been managing since the limited overs tour of the UK in September 2024.
Marsh saw a back specialist in early February and underwent a period of rest to try and settle the problem. He has returned to batting in recent weeks and has been cleared to play in the IPL for LSG as a batter-only and looks set to play a role as an impact player at the top of the order for his new franchise after he was bought for $US400,000 at the IPL Auction last year. Marsh is expected to join LSG’s squad on March 18 and will link up with his former Australia, Western Australia and Perth Scorchers coach Justin Langer who is entering his second season as LSG coach.
Marsh has not played a game since playing in the BBL for Perth Scorchers on January 7. He rested from Scorchers’ final two matches of the BBL season thereafter. That match was his only appearance after being omitted from Australia’s Test team ahead of the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series. Prior to that BBL appearance, his last white-ball matches were during the September T20I and ODI tour of the UK.
Marsh has played for Delhi Capitals in the last three IPL seasons but has had some significant injury issues. He damaged his hamstring in last year’s IPL after just four games and had to return home to rehab before leading Australia in the T20 World Cup. He has previously played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rising Pune Supergiants, Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers.
Meanwhile, Marsh’s Australia teammates Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are all expected to be fit for the IPL after also missing the Champions Trophy with various issues.
Cummins told ESPNCricinfo last month that his ankle was strong after it had flared up following the Border-Gavaskar series and is set to lead SRH again.
Starc also suffered an ankle niggle during the two-Test series against Sri Lanka but is set to play in the IPL after missing the Champions Trophy. Starc will join Delhi Capitals this season, having been bought at the auction for $US1.4 million, after he was player of the match in last year’s final for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Hazlewood attracted the highest price of any Australian at the auction after missing last season when he was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for $US1.49 million. Hazlewood has been the least durable of the three coming off side and calf injuries this summer with the latter turning in a hip issue that forced him to miss the Champions Trophy.
All of Australia’s other IPL players are set to prioritise the tournament over the Sheffield Shield despite five states still being in contention to make the Shield final. Last season Matthew Wade opted to play the Shield final for Tasmania and missed the start of Gujurat Titans’ campaign. But South Australians Travis Head (Sunrisers), Jake Fraser-McGurk (Capitals) and Spencer Johnson (KKR) are all headed to the IPL despite SA already qualifying for the Shield final that is currently scheduled to begin on March 26. Xavier Bartlett, Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie are heading to Punjab Kings to play under Ricky Ponting and will not play for their respective states Queensland or Western Australia in either the last Shield round, which begins on Saturday, or the final if their team qualifies.
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