Australia vs India: Marnus Labuschagne should be dropped for pink-ball Adelaide Test, says Mitchell Johnson | Cricket News

Former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has argued that Marnus Labuschagne, the side’s established No. 3 batsman, should be dropped for the pink ball Test in Adelaide against India next week.
Australia unexpectedly find themselves 0-1 down in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the mammoth 295-run defeat in Perth in which Labuschagne had a torrid time. His long innings of toil lasted 52 balls and just two runs in the first innings. Later, he scored three from five balls before getting caught leg before to a Jasprit Bumrah delivery that he played no shot to.
In his column for the news website ‘The Nightly’, Johnson argues that the 30-year-old could benefit from some game time in domestic cricket and it may be best for Australia to replace him with up-and-coming talent.
“Marnus Labuschagne — after a lengthy poor run with the bat — should be replaced for the second Test in Adelaide. And that’s not for the sake of having someone pay the price for the thrashing in Perth,” Johnson said. “I honestly believe the best thing for Labuschagne at this stage would be to be left out.”
“It would give him a chance to play some Sheffield Shield and club cricket away from the pressure of playing for your country and I feel he would benefit from that more than going out there trying to survive against Jasprit Bumrah and co,” Johnson added.
Marnus Labuschagne has become one of the ever-presents in the Australian Test side over the last five years, but his recent form slump has called that place into question. He has a career average of 48.45 across 51 Tests but in the last two years, he has averaged a meagre 31.75 across 19 Tests.
Johnson argues that kind of form justifies dropping him from the squad. “Some will say, hold up a minute, it’s just the first Test of a long summer. But this has been going on for a while. In his past 10 Test innings, he’s passed 10 just once. Dropping Marnus Labuschagne, 30, would not mean he doesn’t still have a long future in the Test team or that he’s the wrong player to bat at three. For the time being in this form slump though, we need him to be better,” he said.