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Marnus Labuschagne has downplayed the blow to his finger suffered during the first Test against Pakistan at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Australia recorded a dominant 360-run victory in the series opener while the batters are recovering from a relatively hard-fought battle against a fiery Perth surface, along expected lines.
The pitch began to flare up in the latter half of the Test, leaving Australia reeling at 5-2 after eight overs in their second innings following Labuschagne's dismissal. Shortly before losing his wicket to Khurram Shehzad, the right-handed batter was hit by a delivery from the debutant that jumped a bit off the surface.
The medical staff attended to the blow right away, and there were fears that a potential injury could lead to a major reshuffle in the Australian batting order, facilitating Cameron Green's return. However, Labuschagne has dismissed such claims and clarified the status of the injury that required scans.
“That’s happened so many times when I’ve been on the bench, so it’s going to have to take something pretty serious I reckon to have me miss. The finger’s fine, there’s no break. It hit me more on the knuckle side and jammed up my hand, so I was a bit nervous out there. I’ve had a lot of finger blows, but this felt a bit different," Labuschagne told reporters.
“Overnight it was a little bit sore but Sunday morning was fine. I had a hit and it was all right. It just got me in a bit of an awkward spot. There was no padding on that side of the glove, and it got me sort of underneath and jammed it, so it didn’t feel that good. But I’ve actually got some really good range in it," he added.
Labuschagne was not among the runs in the first Test against Pakistan. As mentioned earlier, he had to face a fiery spell in the second innings, scoring only two runs off 18 deliveries. In the first innings, he scored 16 runs off 24 balls, before being trapped in front by Faheem Ashraf.
"I don’t think it was reaching that [dangerous] stage" - Labuschagne defends tough but fair Perth pitch
Labushcagne was not the only batter who copped blows to his body in the Test in Perth. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who played a massive role in the contest with his aggressive batting, also dealt with multiple blows to his head, requiring him to change his helmet twice.
“Usually the cracks aren’t so loose, and you don’t get the big discrepancy in bounce,” Labuschagne said. “Occasionally one hits a crack, but that usually goes way left or way right and it’s not even a concern. But it’s when you get those cross-cracks and the ball hits on the low side, goes down and then [another] hits up."
“So I don’t think it was reaching that [dangerous] stage, but was certainly one of those tough games that you get here at Perth," Labuschagne concluded.
Labushcagne is battling a bleak patch of form in recent times. He has scored 736 runs in 23 Test innings in 2023 at an average of 35.05.
