Pallekele (Sri Lanka): Australian captain Mitchell Marsh on Friday described the team’s group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup as a “missed opportunity” but still believed he had the squad to go all the way in the tournament.
Australia, one of the giants of limited-overs cricket with six ODI and one T20 World Cup title triumphs, failed to progress beyond the group stage in this edition of the T20 showpiece following defeats to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, but ended their campaign with a nine-wicket drubbing of Oman here.
“Probably just the sense of a missed opportunity,” Marsh said when asked what’s going on in his mind as the team leaves the tournament earlier than expected.
“Like every team, we built towards this for two years. Unfortunately, in a couple of key games, we just didn’t play our best cricket – and that’s tournament play. You lose a game like the one against Zimbabwe, and suddenly you’re under pressure.”
“Credit to them, they played well, but we’re a very disappointed group right now,” he added.
The tournament is being held jointly by India and Sri Lanka, and the conditions have been different in both countries. Marsh, however, refused to read much into it as his team was grappling with injuries, poor form of players, and a few questionable selections.
“I don’t think conditions were the main issue,” he said.
“In Colombo, it was slow, but we had prepared for that. I still believe we had the squad to get the job done. But in tournament cricket, if you’re even slightly off, you can lose a game that puts you on the back foot. Over the last couple of weeks, there were good opportunities for us, but we just weren’t able to deliver when it mattered most. That’s where leadership becomes important.”
