Marnus Labuschagne: the journey from leg spinner to the leading run-scorer in Tests 2019

Marnus Labuschagne got a chance to showcase his skills after Steve Smith was declared unfit to play the titanic battle in the Ashes at Lord’s, due to concussion. The start was not on a good note for the promising batsman, as he received lethal bouncer from Jofra Archer. Labuschagne, however, did not fail to give a glimpse of his wonderful temperament by battling the pacer’s spell and scoring a very crucial half-century.

From then on, the batsman has slowly and steadily conquered heights by taking his game on a whole new level. Labuschagne has been in prime form in the home summer, composing Test tons. Recently, Labuschagne registered his third successive test ton to put Australia in a strong position.

Labuschagne has also been included in the 14-man squad for the tour of India, which will be the team’s first 50-over international assignment since the 2019 World Cup.  The 25-year-old has still not featured for Australia in limited-overs cricket but has registered some super impressive knocks in Tests.

Labuschagne has set the foundation for Australia’s some of the Tests by scoring brilliantly where the opponents fail to settle. The Queensland batsman tends to copy Steve Smith a lot as he leaves and shuffles across and his body language mirrored one of the best batsmen to play the sport.

Since the Lord’s Test, he has scored 829 runs in 13 innings at an average of 63.76. The youngster also shared the highest second-wicket partnership on Australian soil with David Warner. The 361-run partnership was also the eighth-highest overall for the second wicket. It is also the highest partnership in the day-night Test.

Marnus Labuschagne has now become the leading run-scorer in 2019 in Test cricket. He has already overtaken his teammate, David Warner taking up the fifth spot in Tests and is the second-highest ranked Australia batsman after Steve Smith.

The concussion substitute also tried to make his name as a bowler. In 2018, he picked up seven wickets against Pakistan in a two-match Test series with his canny leg-spin. He also had an impressive average of 22.43 in the series, just like Steve Smith, who also started his career as a leg-spinner.

The 25-year-old batsman has a bright future as he has already shown maturity beyond his years with the bat and is a bowling bonus. Labuschagne is also one of the key reasons that Australia are now back to winning ways.

Over the last three decades the likes of Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Steve Smith were appointed as Test captains after they turned into run-machines. Labuschagne has the attributes and temperament of leading a team and with a continuous run of promising performances with the bat, the future is bright for Labuschagne as he will hopefully look to grab every opportunity he gets to make a legacy for himself.

Featured image credits- Foxsports