Mitchell Marsh has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, which Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach Pravin Amre called a "worrying sign" for the team.
"A few of our players are injured, and the worrying sign is Mitch Marsh," Amre said after DC's 29-run loss away to Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday. "He has gone for a scan and the physios will give us a report in a week's time. Then we will come to know what the exact situation is. Whether he can [play the entire season] or not depends on the reports."
Marsh started IPL 2024 opening the batting alongside David Warner, but dropped to No. 3 when Prithvi Shaw was picked in DC's third game of the season. In their fourth game, against Kolkata Knight Riders, Marsh picked up the injury during his three-over spell of 1 for 37, as Sourav Ganguly revealed on Saturday during a press conference. Marsh walked out to bat in the chase, but fell to Mitchell Starc for a two-ball duck.
Along with DC, the Australia team management will also be worried about the injury, since Marsh is understood to be a lock-in to lead Australia at the T20 World Cup in June.
Marsh has a history of injuries and, as far as the IPL is concerned, has played only 42 games in what is now his eighth season. There was a cloud over his participation in IPL 2022 too, but he did end up playing eight games for DC. Prior to that, in IPL 2020, when with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he was ruled out of the tournament after hurting his ankle in their first match of the season, and he opted out of SRH's campaign in IPL 2021 citing bubble fatigue.
Kuldeep Yadav has also been out of action for DC because of a groin niggle - the MI game was the third he has missed in a row.
Amre expected Kuldeep to miss "one or two games" more, but said that Mukesh Kumar, who has also missed two matches, should return in DC's next match, on Friday in Lucknow against Lucknow Super Giants.
"We have to start winning but have been set back by a few injuries," Amre said after DC's fourth defeat in five matches. "In the first game, Ishant [Sharma] couldn't bowl two overs. Then Mukesh got injured. Kuldeep has not played three games. Marsh has a hamstring injury. They are our main players and whoever comes [in for them], they are not as effective because it is like A players vs B players there."