Curious case of Marnus Labuschagne: Average of 62.2 vs spin but below par average of 33.33 in Asia
Marnus Labuschagne averages 62.2 against spin but below par average of 33.33 in Asia. A complete analysis of Marnus Labushagne's Test career ahead of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23.
The fifth-highest run-scorer in World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle and Australia’s second-highest run-scorer in the same period is Marnus Labuschagne. The South Africa-born, Australian youngster has turned the world upside down with his innovative leaves outside off-stump, his hunger for runs and the enthusiasm he carries with himself. In WTC 2021–2023, Labuschagne played 25 innings and scored 1265 runs at an average of 57.50, with 4 fifties and 5 hundreds.
Marnus’s batting career in terms of numbers
The Australia batter has not been tested much on the muddy, dusty and turning pitches of the sub-continent. So far, Labuschagne has played 33 Test matches, comprising 56 innings, of which he has played 37 (66.07 per cent) in Australian (home) conditions.
Aside from Australia and England, Marnus has never averaged more than 50 in his career, despite a career average of 59.43. In terms of centuries, only one of the ten he has scored has come outside his home country, in Sri Lanka.
On Australia’s recent tour of Pakistan, Marnus was supposed to be one of the biggest threats to the Pakistan bowlers. However, the threat was diluted by the alien pitches of Pakistan, where the number 1 ranked Test batter could only score 170 runs in five innings at an average of 34. In fact, he has mustered just 400 runs in 12 innings in Asia at a below par average of 33.33, with a solitary hundred.
So, by any stretch of the imagination, if anyone wants to connect the dots, Marnus specifically falls into the same league of home-track bullies that the Australian and English media have labelled many sub-continent legends.
Matches played in | Matches | Innings | Runs | Batting Ave | 100s/50s | HS | SR |
Australia | 22 | 37 | 2397 | 70.5 | 9/9 | 215 | 55.78 |
England | 4 | 7 | 353 | 50.43 | 0/4 | 80 | 51.01 |
Pakistan | 3 | 5 | 170 | 34 | 0/1 | 90 | 61.59 |
Sri Lanka | 2 | 3 | 149 | 49.67 | 1/0 | 104 | 63.68 |
UAE | 2 | 4 | 81 | 20.25 | 0/0 | 43 | 52.94 |
Overall | 33 | 56 | 3150 | 59.43 |