Marnus Labuschagne, the best Test bowler in the world, has explained why he fell asleep during Australia’s second innings of the ICC World Test Championship Final at The Oval while his teammates were being bowled at.
While David Warner and Usman Khawaja attempted to extend Australia’s lead, Labuschagne preferred to rest and snooze. However, when Mohammed Siraj struck, the No. 3 batter was rudely woken up and called out to the middle.
You can’t always watch the game, so I got up and was awake pretty quickly.
I had little time to rest after Siraj’s successful first shot.
As Labuschagne took guard to start his innings, the picture was shown around the world and made the analysts laugh.
“Are you awake, Marnus? Did you clean your teeth? “Have you had a cup of coffee?
Justin Langer, an ex-Australian batter and coach who is also a commentator, says that Labuschagne was woken up by the Indian crowd.
“The crowd’s draw, there’s the alarm! Oh, I’m up and out the door. I’ll brush my teeth and have a quick shot of espresso to get me going. Now he has to face his first ball.”
Siraj’s bowling spree meant that Labuschagne had to be wide awake and focused like a laser.
The batter’s gloves were hit several times before he got to 41* at the end of the day. This put Australia in a strong situation going into day four.
Australia will start their next innings at 123/4, with a lead of 296 runs. Green 7* will bat with Labuschagne as they try to add to their lead with two days left.
