IPL 2022: DC sweats over Marsh's availability after hip injury forces him to miss Pakistan ODIs

Delhi Capitals is off to a winning start in IPL 2022. Although it did it without Mitchell Marsh, his availability for the season is under the cloud, as a hip injury has ruled him out of Pakistan ODIs.

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It was an exciting start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 for Delhi Capitals (DC). On Sunday, it won its opening game against record five-time winner Mumbai Indians (MI) by four wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Although it managed to do so without its Australian star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, his availability for the season remains doubtful.

Marsh has suffered a hip flexor injury that has ruled him out of Australia's One-Day International (ODI) series in Pakistan. While he was roped in for ₹6.5 crore by DC during the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, his availability will now depend on his injury. On Sunday, he suffered the injury during a high-intensity fielding drill as his scans have been sent for examination.

Speaking to reporters, Australian ODI skipper Aaron Finch stated, "He's [Marsh] injured his hip flexor, we think, at training. We will have to wait and see what that looks like, but I don't think he'll be available for the series based on how he was feeling yesterday. He sustained that in a fielding drill. It was a high intensity, lateral movement drill, and he bent down to pick it up one-handed and went to throw and felt a pang."

The Pakistan ODIs start on Tuesday, followed by the lone Twenty20 International (T20I) on April 5. Meanwhile, Australia too will miss Marsh's services, who has been its outstanding performer in the limited-overs of late. He scored an unbeaten 77 during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final against New Zealand to hand his side its maiden title, besides scoring the most T20I runs for Australia in a calendar year last year, amassing 627 runs.