'It’s always nice when Virat thinks you have played a decent shot' - Marnus Labuschagne on banter with Kohli

With the Border Gavaskar Trophy in full swing, team India dominated the first day of the first Test match against Australia. The Aussies were able to put up a score of only 177 runs in the first innings after the Indian bowling attack, especially the spinners, dominated the day.

Marnus Labuschagne was the top scorer for the Aussies with his 49(123). The 28-year-old, after the end of the first day, came forward to open up about his banter with Virat Kohli during the game. In the first ball of the sixth over, Labuschagne missed a delivery bowled by Ravindra Jadeja when Kohli suggested that he could have shouldered his arms to the delivery.

Later, the Australian batter hit a four by playing a cover drive and received praise from Kohli. Talking about the same in an interview with Sen Cricket, Labuschagne said:

“Yeah, it’s always nice when Virat thinks you have played a decent shot there. There are a few shots I definitely learned from him.” 

We are here to win the series: Labuschagne

At stumps on the first day, the Australian team found themselves struggling. Team India trailed by 100 runs with nine wickets in hand at the end of the first day. 22-year-old Todd Murphy provided the Aussies with a much-needed breakthrough as KL Rahul was dismissed scoring mere 20 runs. Labuschagne believes that the Aussies will need a very special batting performance to save this match.

“We are here to win the series, so we are going to make sure that we work as hard as we possibly can and fight our way back into the match by putting up a special performance with the bat,” Labuschagne added.

The 28-year-old also had high praise for debutant Todd Murphy after his impressive performance on the first day. Labuschagne also opined that Murphy’s got the temperament and the skill to make it big. After the fall of the first wicket, team India sent in Ravichandran Ashwin to bat towards the end of day 1.