“I’m just making up for all his poor strike rates” - Mitchell Marsh’s cheeky response to Sunil Gavaskar’s query on Geoff Marsh

Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh came up with a hilarious response to a query about his father Geoff Marsh, who was also a renowned cricketer during his playing days. Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar asked Mitchell whether his father did not teach him defense, to which he replied that he is making up for his dad’s poor strike rates!

Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets on Monday to register their first win in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Batting first, the Lankans collapsed from 125/0 to 209 all out. The Aussies chased down the total in 35.2 overs, with good contributions from Mitchell Marsh (52), Josh Inglis (58) and Marnus Labuschagne (40).

In an interaction with Gavaskar on Star Sports, Mitchell Marsh came up with a cheeky reply when the Indian legend asked him about his defense while making a reference to his father.

The conversation went as follows:

Sunil Gavaskar: “Didn’t your father ever teach you to play like this (in defensive manner)?”

Mitchell Marsh: “I’m just making up for all his poor strike rates”.

Mitchell Marsh, who hit nine fours in his knock against Sri Lanka, is known for his aggressive stroke play. In 82 ODIs, he has scored 2290 runs at an average of 33.67 and a strike rate of 93.85, with one hundred and 18 fifties.

As for Geoff, he was a dogged opening batter, who played 50 Tests and 117 ODIs for Australia, scoring 2854 and 4357 runs respectively. The 64-year-old averaged 39.97 in the one-day format at a strike rate of 55.93. He scored nine hundreds and 22 fifties.

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“Our experienced guys stood up” - Mitchell Marsh reflects on win over Sri Lanka

Sharing his thoughts after Australia’s much-needed win over Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup on Monday, Mitchell Marsh admitted that the team was under pressure after two losses, but asserted that the experienced guys stood up against Sri Lanka.

"It was a really good day for us. We came into the game with a little bit of pressure after the slow start, but our experienced guys stood up today. We're away. I wouldn't say soul-searching but there was plenty of hurt [after the defeat to South Africa]. Hopefully, that's a stepping stone for us in the right direction,” the 31-year-old commented during an interaction with Star Sports.

On Australia’s chase, the all-rounder added that he was batting well and the rest of the guys also chipped in by absorbing the pressure.

"I felt like I was batting well tonight and I probably got ahead of myself [on his run-out]. The boys were calm and the way we finished it off was great,” he added.

Australia will next take on Pakistan at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, October 20.