Marnus Labuschagne prepares for 'chess battle' against Ravichandran Ashwin

With the Border Gavaskar Trophy scheduled to begin on February 9, both India and Australia are all set to lock horns in one of the most anticipated Test series in all of cricket.

Both the Australian and Indian squads are brimming with stars. One such star to be on the lookout for is the 28-year-old, Marnus Labuschagne, who will be a key player for Australia as they prepare to take on India.

In a chat with Cricbuzz, Labuschagne talked about his upcoming battle with veteran Indian spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, saying, "But with Ashwin, it’s more a chess game. He’s willing to bowl ugly, which very few other spin bowlers like to do. He’s willing to bowl ugly to be effective. You saw that in Australia, where he just bowled, as we could call it in Australia, 'negative' lines, but it’s great cricket."

"You are making the batters not be able to score. You’re tying them down, tying them down. And then what he does great is then he attacks your outside-edge off the pressure that he’s built there (like he did at the MCG)," he added.

Labuschagne opens up about possible gameplan against Ashwin

Labuschagne made his Test debut against Pakistan back in 2018, and over time, he has become one of Australia’s most important players. In 33 Test matches, the 28-year-old has scored over 3000 runs.

Talking about his previous encounter with Ashwin, Labuschagne said, "Adelaide was a little bit of a tough wicket, a pink ball that slid on quite sharply. The MCG spun big in the first two sessions. I think the challenge is as much thought as he has put into coming at me; I know he would have looked at how I swept and knew that when I did something I was sweeping." 

He also opined that the key to overcoming the veteran Indian spinner could be unpredictability. Stating that trying different things and not letting Ashwin read his game could be the way to go.