"He was hot" - Marnus Labuschagne reveals specific ploy to tackle Jasprit Bumrah during stand with Pat Cummins on Day 4 of 4th BGT 2024-25 Test

Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne has opened up on the specific tactic he and Pat Cummins employed to tackle a red-hot Jasprit Bumrah on Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Sunday, December 29. The Aussie batter revealed that he, being the set batter, decided to take maximum strike against India's lead pacer and shield Cummins from Bumrah.

Australia got off to a poor start in their second innings and stumbled to 91-6. After knocking over Sam Konstas for eight, Bumrah dismissed Travis Head (1), Mitchell Marsh (0) and Alex Carey (2) in quick succession. However, Labuschagne (70) and Cummins (41) added 57 for the seventh wicket to thwart Bumrah.

Speaking at the end of the fourth day's play, Labuschagne opened up on the successful ploy that ensured Bumrah's threat was neutralized. He said (as quoted by cricket.com.au):

"Our conversation when Pat came out, I said to Sean Abbott, our 12th man, that 'I think I should just face Bumrah here'. I'd been batting for about 90 balls and I had fair feel lining him up. I mean he was hot – he got three wickets in two overs – so I just said to Pat when he came out, 'I'll just take Bumrah and we can run on the other guys'.

"But let's just make sure that I'm at the non-striker's end at the end of each over if Bumrah bowls so that we can face as many overs as we can. And we stuck to that process. Then we tried to make sure that at the end of each over that we don't get stuck and they stop bowling Bumrah for a bit and try to catch us out – and they did once," the 30-year-old added.

Labuschagne stated that while India did get Cummins on strike against Bumrah once, the Australian captain managed to punch the delivery for a single. Praising Cummins, he added:

"A lot's got to go to Pat and the team for the process of how we want to deal with it – we talked about it at the start of the series and it's good for us to see the rewards coming now."

The seventh wicket partnership was broken when Mohammed Siraj trapped Labuschagne lbw with a length ball that nipped back sharply. Cummins was the ninth wicket to fall, edging Ravindra Jadeja to slip.

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Last-wicket pair frustrates India after Labuschagne-Cummins stand

The dismissals of Labuschagne and Cummins brought India back into the contest as the Aussies had been reduced to 173-9 in their second innings. However, the last wicket pair of Nathan Lyon (41*) and Scott Boland (10*) frustrated India, adding an unbroken 55.

The Aussies went to stumps at 228-9, with a significant lead of 333 runs. India will have to bat out of their skins to chase down whatever target they are set. They could also play for a draw, but Australia will have the upper hand considering the visitors are low on confidence in the batting department.