NEWS
Follow UsMarnus Labuschagne is probably going through the coldest of streaks in his career. Since December 2022, Marnus has an average of 34.88, only two hundreds and five fifties to his name in 42 innings of 22 Tests.
Compare this to the first 29 matches in his 51-match career, and it will be a difference between heaven and hell. In his first 29 games, Labuschagne averaged nearly 60 and had nine hundreds and 13 fifties to his name in 50 innings.
The 30-year-old was out for two in the first innings of the Perth Test after playing 52 balls and then left a ball at length from Jasprit Bumrah, which, in the end, skidded on to hit his pads, and he got out leg before wicket for three.
Neil D'Costa, the childhood mentor of the South Africa-born, feels that it is a phase which every cricketer in their 30s goes through.
“Almost everyone around 30 years old, don't know why it's that number, seems to have this glitch. He's a guy we all know, he loves playing cricket. He never leaves a stone unturned. He's super fit. Does he overthink things? I don't know, possibly everyone does,” D’Costa was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
So what’s the solution? According to D’Costa, India’s Virat Kohli is the best example for anyone wanting to know how to come out of a bad phase. After all, the former India captain did not get a century in international cricket for almost three years.
“At some stage, don't want to say it had to happen…it happens to a lot of players. They try a bit too hard, and like [Virat] Kohli, you have to keep trusting yourself, trusting your processes, trust what you do. Go back and find a way the next day,” he said.
But in the process of trying, Marnus tries a bit too much, feels not only D’Costa but also his skipper Pat Cummins. In the post-match press conference after the Perth Test, Cummins said, “Marn [Marnus] along with quite a few guys in the team didn't have the week we would have wanted."
"It's no secret how hard the batters, particularly Marn, work in the nets. He's always trying to find those small marginal gains.”
So D’Costa’s advice to his pupil is not to be too rigid in his approach of trying to get his mojo back but to let things flow.
"When someone gets to the stage where they are the No. 1 player in the world, they are going to become a target. He couldn't keep going. He'd be averaging 80. Keep working on reacting more and not having such rigid plans. Every batter goes through this,” he said.
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