Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins spoke about the star batsman’s struggles Marnus Labuschagne in test cricket.
Pat Cummins has said there is an urgent need for former world No.1 batsman Marnus Labuschagne to be more energetic when he comes out to bat in the second Test match of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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Marnus Labuschagne failed in the Perth Test against India
Labuschagne has had a lean patch in Test cricket for a long time. The 30-year-old, who has been one of the most consistent Test players in the world, has struggled to make ends meet and this has directly affected the Australian team’s performance.
In the Test series the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener, Marnus Labuschagne looked miserable in the first innings before being dismissed for a 52-ball 2. Also in the second innings, he pushed his hands to a jasprit bumrah delivery and dismissed LBW for 3 runs.
In his last 10 Test innings, Labuschagne has scored just 123 runs with 90 of them coming in an innings against New Zealand in Christchurch. His last Test century came a year ago in the Manchester Test against the England National Cricket Team in July 2023.
Marnus Labuschagne would be aiming to make a strong comeback in the Adelaide Test against India as he has a good record on the field, scoring runs at an average of 71.75.
Practices well as he always does, hitting millions of balls – Pat Cummins
The former world No. 1 batsman has been hitting the nets hard and focusing on his strokeplay. Pat Cummins praised him for this and urged him to be more energetic in the pink-ball Test. He stated:
“He’s training well as he always does, hitting millions of balls. It’s almost impossible to dismiss or ignore any of the comments about maybe being a bit more energetic, so I think you’ve seen that side in the nets.
“The challenge is to always go out there and make sure you have that mindset. But he’s been great as always. He’s always working on things, trying to plan how he’s going to get his hundred in this Test.”
Pat Cummins provides an update on Mitchell Marsh
Pat Cummins also provided an important update on Mitchell Marshwho had some back problems and was sore after the first Test in Perth.
The Australian skipper said Marsh has been given a few days off from his bowling duties and will definitely bowl in the Adelaide Test whenever required. He said:
“(We’ve) made the call with the medical staff over the last couple of days to give him a couple of days off bowling, but we’re waiting for him to warm up and if he needs to (will) bowl.
“Guessing he’ll need at some point … to prioritize his overs for games instead of using some of them in the nets.”
Pat Cummins also hoped that his team would be better prepared to face the Indian team after facing them in the first game of the series. He clarified:
“Hopefully we’ve learned some lessons. The good thing is the batting and bowling now we’ve seen them, they’ve had a look at us too, but you can see some of the bowling schemes you’ve got. They want to apply the same with the batting, they know how they will attack them first.”
