ICC World Cup 2023: Australian All-Rounder Mitchell Marsh Out Of Tournament Indefinitely, Flies Home For Personal Reasons

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Australia suffered a huge blow in their fight for the ICC World Cup 2023 semifinal spot after key all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was ruled out of the tournament indefinitely as he flew back home due to personal reasons.

As per ICC, Marsh flew home from India on Wednesday (November 1) night due to personal reasons and there is no certainty that he will return to the subcontinent for the remainder of the tournament as it heads towards knockout stages.

"A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed," Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement on his possible return date as Australia sweat on fitness of another player.

Australia had already lost the services of their star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for the match against England on Saturday (November 4) after he injured himself on the golf course, suffering a concussion after falling off the Golf cart.

Now the absence of an in-form Marsh comes as a big blow for Australians as they look to seal their place in the semifinals with three games to go in the round-robin stage.

Australia, who are currently in third, can improve their chances of booking a semifinal berth with a victory over England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, but losing two key all rounders in this period is definitely a hammer blow.

Wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey, pacer Sean Abbott, all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green will be in contention to replace Maxwell and Marsh for the match against arch-rivals England while spinner Tanveer Sangha is travelling with team as a reserve in the Australia World Cup squad.

Australia have the option to replace Marsh if he misses rest of the tournament, but all replacements are to be approved by the Event Technical Committee. Tim David, Aaron Hardie and Matthew Short will be the options should Australia need any replacement for Marsh.

Marsh had amassed a total of 225 runs at an average of above 37 and two wickets to his name at the World Cup thus far, with his best effort with the bat coming against Pakistan in Bengaluru when he smashed a brilliant 121. He also has smashed a fifty against Sri Lanka.

In their push to qualify for the semfinals, Australia are scheduled to play England on November 4 followed by Afghanistan on November 7 and Bangladesh on November 11 in their last three league games.