Australia's No.3 batter Marnus Labuschagne is coping with severe criticism for his performances in the last two years. The right-hander was unable to come up with answers to the fiery spell bowled by Jasprit Bumrah in the Perth Test as he returned with just five runs in the entire match. He registered scores of 2 and 3 in the first Test as Australia stumbled to a 295-run loss.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has not minced his words, saying Marnus looked the most tentative of all the batters that played on a pitch that had something for the bowlers.
"He was the one that looked most tentative to me out of all the batsmen in Perth,” Ponting told ICC Review.
“Yes, it was high-quality bowling. Yes, it was a difficult wicket to bat on. But when you're facing the best bowlers as a batsman, you have to take more risks," he added.
Marnus Labuschagne faced 52 balls in the first innings of the Perth Test, but he only managed to score 2 runs. Ponting has now urged him to focus on scoring runs rather than survival.
“I think that's going to be a great challenge for Marnus and co. this week. It’s probably just letting go a little bit,” said Ponting.
{{/usCountry}}“I think that's going to be a great challenge for Marnus and co. this week. It’s probably just letting go a little bit,” said Ponting.
{{/usCountry}}"Think about scoring runs first and not think about getting out first. There’s only one way to change it, and that is to be positive and show great intent," he added.
Learn from Virat Kohli
Ricky Ponting cited the example of Virat Kohli and how the India batter changed his fortunes around in the second innings, despite scoring just five in the first innings.
Kohli broke his century drought in the second innings as he returned with an unbeaten knock of 100. "In the first innings, he got too worried about trying to combat what the opposition bowlers were doing and got away from his style of play,” said Ponting.
“He found his style in the second innings, he got a hundred," he added.
Giving a further message to Marnus Labuschagne, Ponting said, "Now it’s over to Marnus, Smith, and co. to find their own way again and go about scoring some runs."
“I think you have to show faith in champion players. A lot of the guys that we're talking about in this team have been champion players. Maybe albeit not for a little while. I think I read somewhere the other day that Marnus is averaging 13 since January (after the Pakistan series) in Tests. So he's really got to find a way to turn it around," he added.