Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne believes fans want to see more of his pace bowling and hinted at using some bouncers against Virat Kohli in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series.
Confident in his bowling skills, Labuschagne has been a dependable part-time leg-spinner across formats. After a standout year, his reputation as a bowler has significantly improved.
He has bowled over 100 overs in first-class cricket, taking 83 wickets. Recently, he has also gained confidence in white-ball formats, notably bowling extensively for Glamorgan in the Vitality T20 Blast, where he achieved a five-wicket haul.
While representing the national team, he bowled seven overs in the ODI series against England, achieving figures of 3 for 39 in the first match.
“What are you going to get there? Are you going to get the number three of Australia rolling in bowling bouncers to Virat Kohli? I think people want to see that. You want to see, can you play on someone’s ego? Are you going to be ducking bouncers from Marnus?” Labuschagne said on The Grade Cricketer.
Labuschagne was recently spotted bowling seam for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia. As captain, he took it upon himself to bowl a series of bouncers at Sam Whiteman and Alex Carey, while employing an unusual field setup.
“I’d love to bowl a bouncer at around 135 km/h”- Marnus Labuschagne
Australia is seeking a potential fourth seamer to support the pace trio due to Cameron Green’s season-ending injury and concerns about Marsh’s workload.
Labuschagne previously bowled out Cameron Green with his medium pace during the 2021 Sheffield Shield and is likely to engage with Cummins during the upcoming series against India.
“I’m happy to throw in whenever. Whatever the team needs. I’d love to hit a little 135 kmph bouncer. I got that in me. My highest recorded is 132 kmph, so just three k more. The boys hate that. They’ll hate that I’ve said that I’ve got 135 in me,” Labuschagne added.
In the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar series, Labuschagne bowled a 16-over spell against India in the fourth Test in Sydney. Since then, he has bowled occasionally against the Men in Blue, but has yet to take a wicket.
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