New Delhi, Dec 23 Former Australia batter Simon Katich believes Mitchell Marsh should make way for uncapped all-rounder Beau Webster in the hosts’ playing eleven for the Boxing Day Test against India, starting in Melbourne on Thursday.
In the ongoing series against India, Marsh has picked only three wickets in his 23 overs bowled so far. He was also not given a bowl in Australia’s second innings with the ball in both Adelaide and Brisbane.
Marsh’s inability to bowl some more overs and take the pressure off the main Australian bowlers is something that Katich has taken note of. “I’ve been saying for a couple of Tests, Mitch Marsh has not been able to bowl the volume of overs that everyone expected of him. Given the conditions and given he is a wicket taker.
“We saw that in Perth, he bowled well on day one. Took some key wickets and then struggled to back up. I mean obviously the Aussie hierarchy know better then we do around where his fitness is at. But for him to bowl two overs the other day after Josh Hazlewood went down, that to me indicates something's not 100% right with him,” he said on SEN Radio.
With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series tied at 1-1, Katich thinks Australia needs to turn towards Webster, who can fulfill the all-rounder role for the remaining two matches in Melbourne and Sydney.
“At the end of the day, Beau Webster deserves to be in that squad. He’s done very well for Tassie in the last few years, he’s a genuine all-rounder given what his role is for Tassie and he plays that dual role with bat and ball," he said.
Katich also believes dropping opener Nathan McSweeney, who made 72 runs in the first three Tests, was a harsh call as many other top-order batters have also struggled to get going against India’s fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
"It's a tough one. I think it's not right from a consistency perspective, purely because if you look at the way this series has played out, there are a number of batsmen from both teams at top order that have struggled against the moving ball in some tricky conditions across the first three Tests," said Katich.
"From that perspective, I'd say I don't agree with it because I think in that last Test match at the Gabba, the Australia top three batters really allowed Steve Smith and Travis Head to do what they did in the middle order by absorbing a lot of pressure against Bumrah and the new ball.
“But I also understand why they picked the young kid Konstas, he was in the frame before the start of the summer. I also don’t think Nathan McSweeney deserved to pay the price for having quiet first three Tests when other batters from both teams have found it hard," he concluded.
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