The Australian team management received a daring suggestion from Mitchell Johnson: Marnus Labuschagne, who is now out of form, should not be included in the second Test match against India, which starts at the Adelaide Oval on Friday, December 6.
This year, Labuschagne’s first Test match against Pakistan saw him score two half-centuries. But for the top batter in the world in Test cricket, things took a turn for the worst. Only one half-century has been scored by him in his last ten innings in the game’s longest format. Labuschagne scored 2 (52) and 3 (5) in the opening Test match against India at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Through both innings, he was out LBW.
Labuschagne should be left out of the playing XI for the second Test, according to former Australian bowler Johnson, so that he may play domestic cricket, where the pressure is less than it is in the international arena.
After an extended period of poor batting performance, Marcus Labuschagne ought to be substituted for the Adelaide second Test. Johnson stated in his Nightly column, “And that’s not just to make someone pay for the beating in Perth.”
“It would allow him to play club cricket and Sheffield Shield without the strain of representing your nation. He said, “I think that would be more advantageous for him than going out there and trying to survive against Jasprit Bumrah and co.”
Marnus Labuschagne still has a bright future with the Test team even if he is dropped: Mitchell Johnson
Johnson stated that Labuschagne’s removal will not be the end of the 30-year-old batter’s career in Test cricket. The native of Townsville wants Labuschagne to score runs in domestic cricket in order to get over his tough patch.
The dismissal of Labuschagne would not imply that he is not a suitable batsman at three or that he does not have a bright future in the Test team. We need him to improve during this current slump, which entails going on big runs,” Johnson said.
Additionally, Johnson voiced worries about Steve Smith’s recent decline in play. The forty-three-year-old claimed that the former Australian skipper was not hitting deliveries that used to get him a lot of runs.
The shape of Steve Smith is a major worry. Johnson said, “He seems to have lost the sharpness we are used to, missing balls on his pads that were easy runs in the past.”