Published 17:17 IST, February 9th 2023
India vs Australia: R Ashwin and Labuschagne continue to play mind games mid-match- WATCH
Following an initial jolt to Australia it was Labuschange who held the fort alongside Steven Smith as the duo put on a 82 run partnership.
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Ravichandran Ashwin was engaged in a healthy banter with Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne during the first Test in the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Nagpur. The off-spinner bowled a fuller delivery which took an uneven bounce and surprised the batsman. In a bid to indulge in mind games, the bowler gestured towards wicketkeeper KS Bharat indicating there would be more turns on offer.
R Ashwin and Marnus Labuschagne engaged in healthy banter
Marnus Labuschagne looked pretty calm and confident in his first outing on Indian soil and as R Ashwin made that gesture towards him he also replied with some few words which were gibberish.
— Anna 24GhanteChaukanna (@Anna24GhanteCh2) February 9, 2023
On the eve of the first Test Labuschagne had admitted he has made some changes to his batting style to face Ashwin on Indian pitches.
"I've changed some of my game because of what I've heard about Ashwin and how he bowled to me.
"I've adapted my game to try and foil a few of his ideas and ways he goes about it.
"It's going to be a lovely game of chess and I can't wait for it."
Following an initial jolt to Australia it was Labuschange who held the fort alongside Steven Smith and the top-ranked ICC Test batsman also remained the top scorer in his first Test in India. The duo built on the momentum and formed an 82-run partnership but that couldn't rescue the visitors as Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin ran through the Aussie batting lineup as they were bowled out for a paltry 177.
Labuschagne fell to Jadeja's tricks as he couldn't reach his first half century in this edition of the Border-Gavaskar trophy
In reply to Australia's score, the home side has managed to put up 77 runs on the board with the solitary loss of KL Rahul.
India vs Australia: Playing XIs
India's XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia's XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
17:17 IST, February 9th 2023