AUS vs IND 2024: Marnus Labuschagne walks the talk with quick bouncer to Pat Cummins in nets

The much awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 will commence with the first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22. Both teams are undergoing preparations for the inaugural Test of the series and glimpses from their practice sessions have only added to the fervour. For the unversed, both India and Australia are practicing at the WACA Stadium.

Recently, Australia batter, Marnus Labuschagne had stated that, he would be bowling bouncers to Virat Kohli during the series. While the fans shrugged the statement as a jovial dig, Labuschagne seems to have made the statement seriously. During Australia’s practice session, Labuschagne charged in and bowled a quick bouncer to Pat Cummins as the latter took no further time to dug. 

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Here’s the video of Labuschagne’s bouncer to Cummins:  

I'm setting ourselves up for really good pace: Isaac McDonald

Isaac McDonald, the pitch curator at the Optus Stadium, has warned both the teams of sheer pace and bounce when the take center stage on November 22. He has also stated that a 10 mm of grass is left on the deck and the same will cater to the pace and bounce for almost three days.

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"This is Australia, this is Perth... I'm setting ourselves up for really good pace, really good bounce and really good carry. In a perfect world, I want to emulate last year. It's [10 mm] a good starting point," McDonald said. "Ten millimetres was pretty comfortable with the conditions that we had [last year] and that held the conditions together nicely for the first few days. Live grass on the pitch is speed. Both bowling units were pretty rapid last year and hoping for much the same this year,” said Isaac as quoted by HT.

Having said about Optus Stadium, a whopping 85,000 spectators will grace the venue for Day 1 of the Indo-Aus tussle. This will surpass the 81,000 crowd attendance witnessed before between the same teams for a Test.