Mike Hussey backs ‘defensive’ Marnus Labuschagne to overcome form slump

Former Australian batter Michael Hussey has backed Marnus Labuschagne to overcome form slump in the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar series against India. The right-hander returned with scores of two and three in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India at the Optus Stadium, Perth, which the visitors won comprehensively by 295 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Labuschagne was plumbed in front by Siraj in the first innings after he trudged to two runs off 52 balls. The right-hander was also dropped by Virat Kohli when he was yet to get off the mark. In the second innings, Labuschagne was trapped in front by Jasprit Bumrah when he shouldered arms to an incoming ball.

Labuschagne has struggled to get going as he has been averaging 24.5 across six Test matches in 2024.

“I actually went back and had a look at some of his highlights of some of his great innings from a few years back. It was just to see if I could see anything different than what we’ve been seeing in the last week or so,” Hussey told SEN.

Hussey said Labuschagne needs to have an intent to score runs, which he lacked in the opening Test against the visitors.

“From a technical perspective, there’s actually not a lot of difference from when he was playing really well in scoring a lot of runs compared to the last Test match against India. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is just his intent to score. He’s probably looking at it thinking, ‘I’m a senior player now, I’ve got to take responsibility, I’ve got to bat time, be there for the team, soak up the pressure and all of that’.

“That gets you into a tentative defensive frame of mind – of batting time, being there and being patient. Whereas when I watched some of those highlights from a few years back, he was just confident and decisive in everything he did, even in defence and when he was letting the ball go he was getting into really strong positions.”

The second Test match between Australia and India, which will be a pink-ball game, will be played at Adelaide Oval from December 6 onwards.