"I think all roads will lead to Mitch" - Andrew McDonald all but confirms Mitchell Marsh as Australia's captain for T20 World Cup 2024

Australian head coach Andrew McDonald has hinted that it is just a matter of time before the Aussies announce all-rounder Mitchell Marsh as their captain for the T20 World Cup to be played in the West Indies and USA in June.

Marsh was the captain of the Australian team that beat New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series recently. McDonald claimed that the team management and the selectors were confident in Marsh's leadership capabilities for the showpiece event.

Speaking to reporters after Australia's Test series win against New Zealand, here's what Andrew McDonald had to say about Mitchell Marsh:

"I think all roads will lead to Mitch, so just got to get that ticked off in certain areas. We’re happy and comfortable with the way he’s been able to operate with that T20 team. We think he’s the leader for the (T20) World Cup, and I think that will just be a matter of due course."

Mitchell Marsh was the Player of the Match in the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup where Australia beat New Zealand. Marsh scored 77* off 50 balls to take his team over the line with eight wickets in hand in the 19th over chasing a target of 173.

---

"Still a rather small sample size" - Andrew McDonald on Steve Smith as Test opener

Star batter Steve Smith hasn't had the best of starts to his career as a Test opener, and his struggles continued in the Test series against New Zealand. In four innings, Smith could only muster 51 runs at an average of 12.75.

While many continue to debate whether Smith should return to his No.4 position, Andrew McDonald has slammed the critics as he believes it is too small a sample size to judge the star batter. He stated:

"It’s a new challenge for him (Smith), it’s a new position. If you’re bringing in a new opener and you gave them four Test matches, and then said, ‘Okay, we’re going to shift that after four Test matches,’ would you think that’s fair or unfair? I think that’s reasonably unfair … for Test matches, this is still a rather small sample size."

McDonald's comments indicate that Australia might stick with Steve Smith as their opener for the marquee Test series against India towards the end of the year. The Aussies haven't retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for a decade and would certainly be keen to turn that around when India arrive on their shores.