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'Marnus, look at that': Siraj tries to trick Labuschagne into repeating mistake, but Khawaja ends up paying the price
Marnus Labuschagne didn't fall to Siraj's tactics, but India ended up getting the reward nonetheless.
Mohammed Siraj and Marnus Labuschagne were at it again on Day 1 of the MCG Boxing Day Test, with the India pacer trying to trick the Aussie into committing the same mistake as the Gabba game. Siraj and Labuschagne were involved in a bail-switching voodoo act that led to Marnus's dismissal shortly after. On day 2 of the Brisbane Test, Siraj switched the bails, only to have Labuschagne change them back, as moments later, the batter nicked Virat Kohli in the slips. Hence, on Thursday, Siraj tried to lure Labuschagne into doing it all over again, but this time, Marnus decided not to fall for the tactic.
In the 43rd over, Siraj switched the bails and told Labuschagne, 'Marnus… look at that', captured by the stump mic. However, Labuschagne decided to ignore it altogether and continued to take strike. But the twist of fate was such that two balls later, Usman Khawaja mistimed a pull shot off Bumrah and lobbed a simple catch to KL Rahul at square leg. Irrespective of whose wicket it was to go down, India once again benefitted from Siraj's bail magic.
The wicket that helped India make strong comeback
Khawaja's wicket came at the right time for India, whose bowlers appeared clueless in the first two sessions of the opening day. After Sam Konstas grabbed the Indian bowling by its horns, smashing 60 off just 64 balls and adding 89 runs for the first wicket, Khawaja and Labuschagne put on 65 more before Bumrah got the breakthrough. India had to wait another 21 overs and 83 runs for their next wicket, and it was Washington Sundar breaking the partnership.
With that wicket, India sniffed an opening, and with captain Rohit Sharma reintroducing Bumrah, the India pacer responded with two wickets in two overs, first dismissing the dangerous Travis Head for a duck and then having Mitchell Marsh out caught behind. In no time, were India back into the contest, even as Steve Smith continued to bat and brought up another fifty – his sixth at the MCG.
That wasn't the only bit of drama unfolding in the Boxing Day opener. Kohli and Konstas were involved in a heated physical exchange after the India batter shouldered the young Aussie opener. Konstas' destructive batting knocked the stuffing out of the Indian bowlers, and Kohli's act was clearly an attempt to throw the 19-year-old off-guard. However, it barely had an impact as Konstas continued to unleash an array of strokes. He took Bumrah for 14 runs in his third over and 18 more in another, leaving India shellshocked.
While Australia dominated the first two sessions, losing just two wickets, three wickets between tea and stumps gave India much-needed momentum. Australia slipped from 237/2 to 246/5, including losing the key wicket of India's tormenter-in-chief Head as he shouldered arms to Bumrah and had the top of his off-stump knocked over. Still, Smith kept Australia alive in a counter-attacking partnership with Alex Carey for the sixth wicket as they seem to be heading towards at least 400 runs from here on.
