‘When they’re talking about out of form and out of runs..’ : Brad Haddin on Marnus Labuschagne regaining form | Cricket News

With Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne having another disappointing Test series scoring 50 runs at an average of 25 in during Australia’s 2-0 win in the Two test series against Australia, the South Africa born cricketer has been seeing a decline in his Test average since last two years. Labuschagne scored a total of 232 runs at an average of 25.77 in the recent Border Gavaskar Trophy and with calls of sacking him for the West Indies tour and WTC final, former Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin has backed the 30-year-old batsman.
“I don’t think he’s under pressure in the next few Test matches. I think he’s done enough to have earned the right to play at least the next four Test matches… When they’re talking about out of form and out of runs… all his training habits are the same, he’s getting in the right position but it’s his mindset,” Haddin said on the Willow Talk Cricket Podcast.
Labuschagne, who made his Test debut against Pakan in 2018, had scored 3041 runs in his first 30 Tests with an average of 60.82 including ten centuries. The remarkable run also saw him climbing to the top of the ICC Test rankings. Post that, Labuschagne has managed to score 1355 runs at an average of 30.79 including only one century in 27 Test matches. With Australia playing three Test matches in West Indies followed the WTC final against South Africa, former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchr believes Labuschagne can flourish as an opener in the coming Test matches for Australia. All-rounder Cameron Green is expected to make a return post an injury and with Travis Head moving to middle-order, Gilchr sees an opportunity for Labuschagne. “They’re flush with choices particularly if Green comes back fit to bat. It’ll boil down to the conditions over there and who they think is going to do the best job for those five days… It wouldn’t surprise me (that Marnus) may well be in the calculations if they’ve got to replace an opener with Travis going back to five. They might even say, ‘right Marnus, you go up there,’ if they want to retain him in the team. They obviously put a lot of value on him being in the team and he played a couple of really reliable knocks in the summer (against India) without being back up to the lofty standards he set over the last few years,” Gilchr told Australian media.
Australian skipper Steve Smith too has backed Labuschagne and compared the batsman to his revival in Test cricket. “Marn’s similar to me in a way. Throughout the summer I think he’s actually batting quite nicely, and there’s a difference between being out of form and out of runs, and I’ve seen Marnus do it, we know he can do it. I don’t think he’s out of form, personally. I’ve watched him train and watched him play and a lot of the things he’s done so well are there. Things can turn around pretty quickly. He’d love to score more runs and we’d love him to score more runs, but in my opinion it’s just around the corner,” Smith told reporters earlier.
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