Marnus Labuschagne
India's Ravichandran Ashwin led the bowling unit as Australia were restricted to just 191 on the second day of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval. While Ashwin picked a four-fer, Umesh Yadav took three wickets to bowl out the hosts on a modest total.
After Australia lost their top-order cheaply, it was the Marnus Labuchagne-Tim Paine duo which steadied their innings. Labuschagne stuck to the crease and scored a vital 119-ball 47 while skipper Paine remained unbeaten on 73. During his time at the crease, Labuschagne also showed his funny side, leaving the visitors bemused with his peculiar leaves, much like Steve Smith.
Ever since his debut at the international stage, Labuschagne has been labelled as a replica of Smith due to similarities in their batting styles. It was difficult to differentiate between the two when Labuschagne was at the crease today. The South Africa-born right-hander, the 'first-ever concussion substitute' in world cricket, pulled off many leaves against India which reminded fans of Smith's odd-looking batting style.
Cricket Australia shared a clip of Labuschagne where he was spotted copying Smith's crab-walk, leaves and unusual stance. After leaving Jasprit Bumrah's delivery which was wide outside off, Labuschagne even shouted “no run", leaving the commentators in splits. “That is odd behaviour,” Allan Border said while being on-air for Fox Cricket.
After Labuschagne's departure, Paine tried to steer his side towards India's 244-run total but was left stranded in the middle with no support. Paine’s 99-ball 73 helped Australia reach 191. Australia's situation would've been worse if Labuschagne wasn't dropped twice in the innings-- once by Bumrah in the morning session and then by Shaw in the second session.
