Marnus Labuschagne's meteoric rise to the world's best batter

Marnus Labuschagne has spectacularly dislodged Joe Root as the world's best Test batter in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rankings. He joins Pat Cummins, who heads the Test bowling rankings, to complete a duo of Aussies at the top of the world in each discipline.

His meteoric rise to Test stardom is an unlikely story, and since replacing Steve Smith as a concussion sub during the 2019 Ashes series, he has failed to misstep.

Now housing a Test batting average of 62.14, Labuschagne has amassed 2113 Test runs from 35 innings, recently becoming the ninth Australian man to cross the 900-point mark in the ICC's Test batting rankings.

Australia have found their new stalwart at first drop, with Labuschagne's average bettered by his record at No.3, where he has an average of 72.91. That record is only bettered by Sir Donald Bradman.

Since January 2019, his spot at No.3 in Australia's batting order has been securely his to keep, notching up six hundreds and 12 fifties. Since that infamous sub in 2019, his first innings scores have been 74, 67, 48, 185, 162, 143, 63, 215, 47, 48, 91, 108, 74, and 103.

Last week, Labuschagne became the fifth-fastest batter to reach 2000 Test runs.

His ICC ranking now places him ahead of Joe Root (who only needs 159 runs to break the record for most runs in a calendar year), as well as Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. Conversely, he's performed well against their sides, averaging 58.01 against England, 51.55 against India and 91.50 against New Zealand.

Labuschagne's eccentric character and unusual mannerisms have crafted him as the posterboy of the Australian cricket team, as his pile of runs combined with his personality make him a favorite in and outside the Australian camp.

Australia coach Justin Langer says Labuschagne's energy and enthusiasm "astounds us." He said that players who have his type of energy and natural talent are destined to provide value to the Australian setup.

“I’ve got absolutely no reason to believe he won’t get better and better. He’s certainly as hungry as ever. He’s working as hard as ever. Let’s hope he continues on this incredible rise," Langer said.

It's clear he's embodied that persona since his outing to the crease at Lord's in 2019. The nerves in the Australian dressing room were seriously frayed when Steve Smith was removed from the field after Jofra Archer struck him in the head.

But Labuschagne, as nonchalant as can be, calmed the Aussies down and brightened their fortunes, scoring 59 out of a team total of 154.

Labuschagne has even contributed to the side as a part-time leg-spinner, with his hearty character providing so much hope and energy into the fielding side. He famously snatched a late wicket in the fourth Test of the 2019 Ashes series, helping Australia win that Test and retain the Ashes on tour.

---

Labuschagne's humble beginnings

Labuschagne's meteoric rise to stardom was unorthodox in the sense that he didn't necessarily demand Test selection through first-class runs in the Sheffield Shield. But selectors trusted the eye over facts and figures, proving his selection was crafted by a nuanced understanding of cricket, rather than a calculated equation derived by averages.

Labuschagne made his debut in 2018, on Australia's tour of the UAE against Pakistan. There he batted at No.6, making a duck on debut, before making a top score of 43 (from four innings), leaving many doubts over his selection.

But those in the inner sanctum were cautious and backed him up in Australia's subsequent Test series, with Australian selector Trevor Hohns and Australian coach Justin Langer backing the Queenslander for the 2019 home Test series against Sri Lanka.

But that call created history and allowed Labuschagne to grow into the role. By the end of his career, we will likely be looking at one of the nation's best-ever players to grace the baggy green cap.