World Cup 2023 | What Happened The Last Time IND Faced AUS In A WC Game in Chennai
David Warner and Mitchell Marsh in India (BCCI)
Rohit Sharma and his Indian troops kicked off their 2023 World Cup campaign with a match against Australia at the iconic M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Both teams are fielding a constellation of stars in their playing XI as they aim to seek early advantage in the tournament.
Prior to the match, Australian skipper Pat Cummins had won the toss and opted to bat first. His openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh made their way into the crease upfront, and in doing so, unknowingly re-created a 36-year-old moment, one which is stockpiled within the celebrated rivalry between Australia and India in ODIs.
David Warner and Marsh re-create this iconic 1987 moment
Regular Australian opener Travis Head fractured his hand during his team’s white-ball tour of South Africa last month. The injury hampered his World Cup 2023 dreams, as his subsequent injury-prone absence made way for Mitchell Marsh to open the innings for Australia alongside dynamic southpaw David Warner.
Both Marsh and Warner made their way to the middle against India in their opening World Cup 2023 match in Chennai’s M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, also known as Chepauk Stadium.
Notably, the last time India and Australia clashed at the Chepauk Stadium for a World Cup match occurred back in 1987. Incidentally, their 1987 bout also marked the opening fixtures for both sides in that tournament, and the match itself was dated for October 9, as opposed to the scheduled October 8 date for their 2023 World Cup opening meeting.
In that game, the Australian opening pair that took guard at the crease upfront was another David (Boon) and another Marsh (Geoff). Geoff, meanwhile, happens to be the father of Australia’s current opener Mitchell Marsh.
In two different World Cup editions in India, 36 years apart, Australia’s trophy quest launched against hosts India at the Chepauk Stadium on an October with a David and a Marsh opening up for them. If the astonishing series of coincidences are to be revered, Australia might conquer the 2023 trophy as well, considering they had won the title back in 1987 and signaled their victorious run with a one-run win over the hosts in their opener.
However, as fate permits, Mitchell Marsh was dismissed for a duck against India in Australia’s 2023 quest, while his father Geoff had smashed a match-winning ton back in 1987 on the same occasion.
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