Australia should drop Marnus Labuschagne for Adelaide Test versus India: Mitchell Johnson
"It would give him a chance to play some Sheffield Shield and club cricket away from the pressure of playing for your country," Mitchell Johnson said.
Mitchell Johnson gave a bold suggestion to the Australian team management, calling for the omission of the out-of-form Marnus Labuschagne for the second Test against India, which begins on Friday, December 6, at the Adelaide Oval.
Labuschagne scored two half-centuries in the first Test he played this year against Pakistan. However, things went downhill from that point for the World No. 1 batter in Test cricket. He has scored just one half-century in his last 10 innings in the longest format of the game. Labuschagne registered scores of 2 (52) and 3 (5) in the first Test versus India at the Optus Stadium in Perth. He was out LBW in both innings.
Former Aussie pacer Johnson feels that Labuschagne should be left out of the playing XI for the second Test as it would allow him the opportunity to play in domestic cricket, where the pressure will not be as much as in the international arena.
"Marnus Labuschagne - after a lengthy poor run with the bat - should be replaced for the second Test in Adelaide. And that's not for the sake of having someone pay the price for the thrashing in Perth," Johnson wrote in his column for Nightly.
"It would give him a chance to play some Sheffield Shield and club cricket away from the pressure of playing for your country. I feel he would benefit from that more than going out there trying to survive against Jasprit Bumrah and co.," he added.
Dropping Labuschagne would not mean he doesn't still have a long future in the Test team: Mitchell Johnson
While voting for Labuschagne's exclusion, Johnson said that it won't mean the end of the road for the 30-year-old batter in Test cricket. The Townsville-born wants Labuschagne to overcome his lean patch by scoring runs in domestic cricket.
"Dropping Labuschagne would not mean he doesn't still have a long future in the Test team or that he's the wrong player to bat at three. For the time being, in this form slump, we need him to be better - which means making big runs," Johnson noted.
Johnson also expressed concerns over Steve Smith's dip in form. The 43-year-old said that the former Australian captain was failing to hit deliveries that were fetching him a lot of runs in the past.
"Steve Smith's form is a serious concern. He looks like he has lost his sharpness we are used to, missing balls on his pads that in the past were easy runs," Johnson observed.
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