Labuschagne begins mind games ahead of Perth Test: ‘India’s loss at home…’

Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener in Perth, Marnus Labuschagne wasted no time in reminding Team India about their recent home Test series loss against New Zealand. Speaking to reporters at the Optus Stadium in Perth, the right-handed No.3 batter for Australia said that India’s recent series whitewash against the Kiwis might have caused a little bit damage to their confidence. However, he was also quick to say that no one is ruling Rohit Sharma and co out.
For the first time in 12 years, India suffered a home Test series defeat against New Zealand. It also marked the first time that India were whitewashed at home (series comprising three or more matches).
India will be without the services of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for the series opener in Perth. Rohit has not travelled to Australia as he and his wife Ritika Sajdeh recently welcomed their second child while Shubman Gill suffered a fracture on left thumb after getting injured during match simulation against India A.
“It’s really hard to judge. They played in completely different conditions — spinning conditions — but having India come here off the back of a loss at home is something that’s never happened before (in my career),” said Labuschagne.
“I think that is a good thing in terms of… they are probably a little bit lower on confidence, not coming off a Test victory, losing to New Zealand 3-0. I think that’s going to do a little bit of damage to their confidence,” the batter added.
Labuschagne also labelled the current Indian Test time as “one of the best teams in the world”. The Australia batter also recalled how India had their backs against the wall during the 2020-21 tour Down Under, after a plethora of players got injured.

However, despite the injury struggles, India under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, registered a famous 2-1 series win. The side also managed to breach the Gabba fortress, a feat which had not been achieved in 33 years.
“They’re a quality line-up and they’re one of the best teams in the world. So you can never underestimate a team like that,” said Labuschagne.
“That’s what happened in 2021 — the likes of (T) Natarajan played, (Mohammad) Siraj got his first crack in Australia, Washington Sundar played. They had all these guys that were probably a little bit new — Shubman (Gill) played those couple of games (in the 2020-21 series) – so there were new faces around,” he added.
The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy is also going to have huge implications for both India and Australia, in terms of qualification for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
India need to win the upcoming series 4-0 to make it to the final, without depending on other results.