Sydney: Star Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh on Monday decided to opt out of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League and instead play county cricket for Surrey to develop and improve his game in Test cricket.
“It was a fairly big decision from a money point of view but my ultimate goal is to play Test match cricket for Australia,” he said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.
Marsh was roped in by Rising Pune Supergiant in the tenth edition of the tournament last year for a sum of ₹ 4.8 crore. But he couldn’t participate in the tournament due to a shoulder injury.
He further added, “That’s the lure of the IPL – the money and playing in India, but I made the decision based on my cricket.
“When I made that decision, I didn’t really think I was going to be back there this quickly. But I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to play 14 red-ball games over there – if I can, and try and improve.”
The right-hander recently scored his maiden Test ton against England in the ongoing Ashes series and he said that he wants to be well-placed to play for Australia when they compete against England in the next few years.
“Looking forward we have got a lot of cricket coming up in England over the next few years and I want to give myself the best opportunity to be over there and get used to the conditions,” he said.
While talking on the Melbourne Test which ended in a draw on December 30, he said, “I said to him [Smith] as we were walking off that I was proud. Probably the biggest thing I was most happy about it is that 12 months ago with my mental side of my game I probably don’t think I could have got through that.
“While I know it was the flattest wicket in cricket history, to apply myself for that long and not really care about scoring is something I’ve gained a lot of confidence from.
“I think I’ve said it for a couple of weeks now, I’ve been a lot more relaxed with this preparation when I came back to the Test team. I knew the gameplan I’d have to go out there with and it was about sticking to that for as long as we needed to get the draw,” said Marsh.