Australia vs India: Marnus Labuschagne safe after copping a blow on the helmet

Marnus Labuschagne, the Australian batsman, was hit on the helmet by a delivery from Mohammed Siraj during the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It happened in the 36th over during the post-lunch session when the batsman had already got his eyes in. However, despite the blow, the right-hander kept on batting and displayed nerves of absolute steel.

Siraj bowled a bouncer and Marnus went for the pull shot, but he was late on the ball and copped a blow on the helmet. Thereafter, Shubman Gill took the catch in the slip cordon. The Indian fielders reckoned that the ball had brushed the bat or the glove and hence, appealed in unison. But the umpire didn’t give the batsman out, much to Australia’s relief.

In the meantime, Ajinkya Rahane, who’s standing in for Virat Kohli, checked on Labuschagne quite immediately after the latter was injured. The concussion protocols were carried out and the batsman was deemed safe by the doctors. In the very next ball, Siraj bowled a bouncer and that time around, the batter decided not to play a shot, rather ducking under it.

Here’s the video-

Marnus Labuschagne a critical part of Australia’s Test team

Back in August 2019, Labuschagne’s Test career kicked off after he came in as Steve Smith’s concussion substitute during the Lord’s Test. Ever since then, he has only grown in stature and has given oppositions sheer nightmares over the time period. In 16 Tests thus far, he has notched 1560 runs at an average of 60 with four centuries to show for his efforts.

In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he has shown glimpses of his best to some extent, though he hasn’t shown his true colours just yet. In the Day-Night Adelaide Test, he managed 47 runs in the first innings before falling to a rash stroke in the second instance.

In the MCG Test, even after getting hit on the helmet, Marnus showed a great amount of resilience and scored 48 runs off 132 balls with four fours. It was eventually Siraj, who got rid of him in the 50th over. Australia were 134 for five when Marnus got out.