Marnus Labuschagne wants Australian team to show intent in the upcoming Sydney Test

Batsman Marnus Labuschagne wants the Australian side to change their technique while facing the Indian bowling unit. In the Border Gavaskar Test series, which is currently at 1-1, the Aussie batsman has looked pale against the Indian bowlers. Their star batsman Steve Smith has not exceeded the single-digit score in both the matches.

Labuschagne is Australia’s leading run-scorer of the series. He has praised the Indian attack for being temperate in the Melbourne Test. The young batsman opines that playing too many dot balls and not going at a decent run-rate has allowed the visitors to determine terms.

At the beginning of the year, Labuschagne will be back at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It is where he made his Test debut at home and also scored his only double century. South Africa born has so far played 16 Test matches. His maiden Test match was against India back in 2019. This marked the beginning of a year that would see the 26-year-old top the Test run lists. His first double-century was against New Zealand in 2020.

They have undoubtedly come in with plans with straight fields: Marnus Labuschagne

The 26-year-old expressed about how the Indian team have planned their field placements. They have succeeded to restrict the Australian batsmen from scoring a whole lot of runs. Marnus also understands the importance of showing discipline for his team to make a comeback.

In the first two Tests in Adelaide and Melbourne, Labuschagne has hit 129 runs at a decent average of 41.61. Even though the batsman hasn’t scored a half-century yet, he has shown an incredible amount of resilience. He has scored 48 and 47 in both the innings.

After winning the first Test at Adelaide, Australia lost the early advantage as India won the MCG Test by eight wickets. Despite missing out on important players, the visitors bounced back from the Adelaide horror and won the second Test by eight wickets. Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane guided the side so brilliantly that the absence of some of the players didn’t affect India’s victory. Now, both the top-notch teams gear up to square off against each other in the third Test.

Meanwhile, the officials confirmed that Umesh had been ruled out of the remaining Tests after suffering an injury. Left-arm pacer T Natarajan is going to replace him in the playing XI. The third Test gets started on January 7 at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground.

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