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Marsh stays coy on ODI captaincy prospects

Allrounder looms as strong candidate to take over from Aaron Finch as Australia look towards next year's ODI World Cup in India

Allrounder Mitchell Marsh said he would wait for "conversations down the track" regarding the ODI captaincy, saying his full focus is on helping Australia retain the T20 World Cup crown.

Aaron Finch announced his retirement from ODI cricket last week following his horror run of form, but he will stay on as T20 skipper until at least the conclusion of the ICC World Cup in Australia, which begins next month.

Test skipper Pat Cummins could take over the ODI captaincy, though former skipper Steve Smith recently expressed his reticence to return to the job.

Wicketkeeper Alex Carey and Marsh are among the other names to have been floated.

Marsh has plenty of captaincy experience at Western Australia, but he played a straight bat when asked about the prospect of taking over as ODI skipper.

"I need to be very careful what I say here, you know I don't like headlines," he said with a smile. "I think there may be conversations down the track. 

"But this World Cup is so important to us as a team, and for me personally it's everything I've worked for over the last couple of years. 

"Cricket Australia have a bit of time to make that (captaincy) call over the next few months, and we'll see where it lands."

Marsh was full of praise for Finch, who averaged 38.89 during his glittering 146-match ODI career.

"He will be sorely missed in our change rooms over the next few years," Marsh said.

"(He scored) 17 one-day international hundreds, and I really hope he goes down as one of the greats of Australian cricket when it comes to white-ball cricket. Just a ripping bloke and a great captain."

Mitchell Starc (knee soreness), Marcus Stoinis (side strain) and Marsh (ankle) were all ruled out of next week's three-match T20 series in India. 

Marsh is confident his ankle injury will heal in time to allow him to take part in home T20 fixtures against the West Indies, England, and India prior to the World Cup. 

"The ankle is coming along pretty well," Marsh said after Western Australia's season launch on Thursday.

"It's on the minor end of the (scale) but with the World Cup coming up, it's really the only opportunity to get it right for that.

"I'm certainly not worried about it, it's coming along well and hopefully I'll be right to play against the West Indies in a few weeks' time."

Qantas T20 Tour of India 2022

September 20: First T20, Mohali, midnight Sept 21 AEST

September 23: Second T20, Nagpur, midnight Sept 24 AEST

September 25: Third T20, Hyderabad, midnight Sept 26 AEST

All matches will be shown live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports

Australia squad: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.