EVEN IF he is the No.3 batter in the order, Australia's Marnus Labuschagne decided to take a short nap after the Kangaroos started their second innings on Day 3 of the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against India at The Oval on Friday (9). And it was not a long one as opener David Warner fell after scoring just one run in the bowling of pacer Mohammed Siraj in the fourth over, thanks to a smart catch by wicket-keeper KS Bharat.
Cameras caught the South African-born Labuschagne suddenly waking up hearing the crowd cheering and getting ready to walk out to bat. The right-hand batter, who scored 26 runs in the first innings, remained not out on 41 at stumps on Day 3 with Cameron Green giving him company on seven. Australia were 123 for 4 at the end of the day to extend their overall lead against the opponents to 296 after India were bowled out for 296 in their first essay in reply to Australia's 469.
Labuschagne got out to Umesh Yadav early on Day 4 morning without adding any run to his overnight score.
As the incident saw hilarious reactions from various quarters, including the commentary team and social media, the 28-year-old broke his silence on why he took a short nap in the dressing room just when his duty to bat was around the corner.
As quoted by the International Cricket Council, the Australia batter said he was just trying to rest his eyes and calm his nerves. He also said that one cannot watch the game all the time.
“I was just resting my eyes between balls and just relaxing,” Labuschagne was quoted as saying by Australia's SEN Cricket after the day's play ended.
“I was trying to calm my nerves a little bit, you can’t watch the game all the time, I got up there and was awake pretty soon.
“I didn’t have too many rests there when Siraj banged that first one in,” said Labuschagne.
India staged a fightback on Day 2 with Ajinkya Rahane, who is playing a Test match after January 2022, scored 89 and Shardul Thakur made 51. However, India's hopes of reducing the gap with Australia's total were dashed after lunch when they lost their last four wickets for only 36 runs.
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