Praising the Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara, the Australian leg-spin all-rounder Marnus Labuschagne is still confident that Australia can make a comeback in the Sydney Test.
Pujara’s brilliant unbeaten 130 off 250 balls (16 fours) helped the visiting side to score 303/4 at the end of day one of the Sydney Test. The no.3 Indian batsman played another patience knock in this series as it is his third century in this Test series.
Talking about Pujara’s knock, Labuschagne said at the end of the day one, “He was very classy. He has time and patience around at the crease. The way he batted is something I personally would take a lot from. He just batted a lot of time and he has done that through the whole series. And that’s what we are going to need to do to step up to put a big score on the board.”
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Though the opening day of the crucial Test match was a very hard day for the host side, the 24-year-old all-rounder Labuschagne is confident that they can make a comeback in the game.
He said, “We are only 2-3 wickets away from being able to break it open and if the boys put the right ball in the areas tomorrow, I am confident that we can get early breakthroughs and get them out for under 400. The wicket stays good for three days and deteriorates quite fast. Then the game moves quickly at the back end and it’s going to be the same again, so the first innings will be key for us.”
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In his first over, Pujara hit three boundaries. However, Labuschagne was positive in his second spell as he finished the day with the bowling figure of 4-0-25-0.
Talking about his bowling, Labuschagne said, “There was a little bit of pressure. First ball came out alright and then I dragged down a few balls short. I was positive when I came back for the last three overs and sort of tied a bit of pressure. I know my role tomorrow is to keeping it tight at that one end, and giving pacers a rest to make sure they can come back fresh for every spell.”
As Usman Khawaja is going to open with Marcus Harris, Labuschagne will come to bat at the no.3 position and he is ready to take this challenge.
Labuschagne said, “I’ve pretty much batted most of my time at Queensland at three and it does go out in a position that I am comfortable with. It’s going to be a good challenge tomorrow and one I’m looking forward to. My role at three is to play my game and to make sure that I am batting as much time as possible and putting us as a team in a good position. That’s how I’m going to approach it.”
