Marsh earns praise from all quarters

14th May 2008

Kings XI Punjab's Shaun Marsh was lauded for his scintillating 51-ball knock of 74 against Bangalore Royal Challengers by his captain Yuvraj Singh as well as opposition skipper Rahul Dravid.

His performance, which included nine boundaries and two sixes, won him the Player of the Match award.

The Australian batsman is quite pleased with his stint in the IPL so far especially his new role as an opener.

"I feel very lucky to be here and fantastic to be part of DLF Indian Premier League (IPL). I am playing with the greatest players and before packed houses. It is fantastic experience," he was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference after his side defeated the Bangalore team by nine wickets.

"I have never opened batting before, this is something new to me but I am enjoying every moment of it," he added.

Yuvraj praised the Aussie lad's feat pointing out that Shaun looked quite confident in the nets. The captain further said that his performances should boost his morale for one-dayers too.

"It should give him confidence for going in the one-day series. All over the world, they are watching what Shaun Marsh is capable of," Yuvraj stated.

Opposition captain Rahul Dravid also appreciated his performance.

"He is a very good talent. It is very satisfying that he is doing well," he said.

In the first League tie against Bangalore Challengers he had scored 39 runs from 34 balls.

Marsh has played five matches so far in the tournament and has already amassed 295 runs. He exhibited his exploits with the bat against Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings too by smashing 40 (32) and 58 (38) runs respectively.