Australia’s star player wants his team to succeed with ‘Cheteshwar Pujara’ in Test series against India

Ahead of the first Test against India in Perth, Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne said that the team is trying to tire out the bowlers and put pressure on them, to do what Indian veteran Cheteshwar Pujara has done in the past. He said he was trying to play the “long game” while batting. 2 tours. A fast bowling attack on a bouncy, fast surface will be key as both teams, who sit first and second in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings, look to secure a shot at the title. It will be. The Indian team will have a relatively inexperienced line-up of lead pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, supported by new stars like Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Labuschagne, who became the highest run-getter in the 2020-21 BGT series in Australia with 426 runs in four matches and an average of 53.25 with one century and two fifties, will help Australian batsmen take advantage of this lack of experience. , I just want to hit, hit, hit and surprise my opponents. Swallowing long spells will wear you out.

“This (series) is going to be important for all of us. I think the way we play, we’re at our best when we’re playing long games. We’re going to hold them back for the second, third time. They understand that it is important to get them back in time. There is pressure on them. “But we get them to come to us and we put pressure back on them through the overs and game time on the field and that’s really important, especially in a five-Test series,” ESPNCricinfo quoted him as saying. Labuschagne said.

“Because as we get into the third, fourth and fifth Tests, if they are going to play the same teams and those bowlers are rolling into 100 overs, 150 overs, 200 overs by the third Test. , because it’s going to make a huge difference in the series,” he added.

To put things into perspective, Pujara played 1,258 balls in the 2018-19 tour of Australia and 928 balls in the 2020-21 series, scoring 521 runs and 271 runs respectively. . across both series. Only Labuschagne (850) and Steve Smith (684) were able to touch more than 600 balls, and their efforts came in the loss of the 2020-21 series.

Pujara’s sheer stubbornness, determination and solid fielding in the attack provided a wall of defense for other batsmen to attack bowlers who were just getting tired of bowling.

During Queensland’s Sheffield Shield season and practice sessions, Marnus displayed considerable medium pace and established himself as a solid addition to Australia’s bowling attack, alongside skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh. – Could help reduce Hazlewood’s workload. With 13 Test wickets and 84 first-class scalps, he could definitely be a decent replacement for the Australians.

Even Labuschagne said he loved bowling, especially bowlers. He expressed confidence in his body’s durability to bowl a solid number of overs every day.

“I bowled one bouncer and I think Mitchell Starc said, ‘We don’t have many memories.’ And I said, ‘Well, we’re going to get it anyway, so we might as well give it away. It might be fun.’ I love bowling bouncers.”

“I was a bit worried. When I bowled, I think it was a 28-over pace in a Shield match. Some people say it was a big spike because up until then my workload was zero. But my… My body is quite strong.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing since I was young. I’ve always bowled with pace,” he concluded.

After the series opener in Perth on November 22nd, a day-night second Test will be played under the lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6th to 10th.

Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.

The traditional Boxing Day Test is scheduled for December 26-30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and will be the penultimate stage of the series.

The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to the much-awaited series.

Indian team for Border-Gavaskar series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Juler (wk) , Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk) , KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

Australia squad for first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve – Smith, Mitchell Stark.