As the Border-Gavaskar Trophy approaches, doubts linger over the quality of both teams’ batting line-ups, but runs might not be the only factor determining success in this series. Marnus Labuschagne, having experienced both triumph and defeat in recent series, understands that grinding out valuable runs can be just as crucial as accumulating them quickly.
Labuschagne Keen To Trouble India With Fiery Bouncers
One venue where he has continued to excel is at Perth, where the fast, bouncy nature of the wicket is reminiscent of his home ground at the Gabba. His record in Perth is simply spectacular: three hundreds in three Tests at an average of 103.80. He has managed to do it by leaving the ball early and trusting the bounce and using the pace of the wicket in his favor.
Also Read: Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Nathan Lyon Challenges Virat Kohli – Who’ll Dominate?
Perth Provides The Best Bounce & Pace
The Perth bounce is something Labuschagne savours, and long time he’s considered it to be a ground that aligns with his natural game. This is going to be a critical factor for him in this series as he will look to play long innings and take the sting out of the Indian bowlers.
While batting has been his chief focus, Labuschagne has also been contributing with the ball, and his role as a bowler has added an interesting layer to his preparations. During the early part of the Sheffield Shield season, Labuschagne has experimented with medium pace while filling in for the injured Cameron Green
“There’s Nothing More Enjoyable Than Bowling Bouncers“
“I would love nothing more than to be that guy,” Labuschagne said during the build-up to Friday’s series opener in Perth when asked if he was primed to fill Green’s bowling boots, as mentioned by Cricket.com.au
“But we’ve got to convince the Australian captain of that.
“We’ll see, but there’s nothing more enjoyable than bowling bouncers.
“I love it.”
"There's nothing more enjoyable than bowling bouncers." 👀
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 19, 2024
Australia's No.3 is keen to take on a bigger role with the ball against India this summer! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/rbRCjmsa1q
He was seen here at the WACA firing a bouncer barrage at his batting mates, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, with a grin all over his face. With Green out of contention, Labuschagne is looking to grab the ball in the Test series and gain wider participation.
Runs Don’t Always Win Matches
The 2020-21 series against India was a series where Labuschagne emerged as the top run-scorer on both sides with a humongous total. However, his brilliant show could not translate Australia to victory over India. If it were run-related, it was resilience that defined the series. Where one of the chief differences between that series was an approach Cheteshwar Pujara adopted. Although Pujara scored 155 fewer runs than Labuschagne, he faced 78 more deliveries across eight innings and played a vital role in wearing down the Australian bowlers. His capacity to absorb pressure and grind out long innings helped India win the series as Australia’s bowlers were starting to feel the strain.
Labuschagne Looks Forward To Beat India
“It’s going to be important for all of us,” Labuschagne said on Tuesday. “I think the way we play, we’re at our best when we’re playing the long game. We understand that getting them back for their second and third spells, putting them under pressure and letting them come to us and us putting pressure back on them through overs in the field and time in the game, especially over a five-Test series, that’s really important, as quoted by ESPNCricInfo
“Because as you get into the third, fourth, fifth Test, if they’re trying to play the same team, and those bowlers are rolling into 100, 150, 200 overs by the third Test, it’s going to make a big difference in the series.”
Labuschagne takes that confidence into the next series, where he expects to beat down India’s relatively inexperience pace attack, led by Bumrah with the idea of wearing them out on a testing six-week tour. However, to do all this, the Australian top order must provide stability to the middle order so that they can seize opportunities.
