The no. 1 test batsman in the world Marnus Labuschagne has picked the Indian test captain Virat Kohli and the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as the two best Indian players of the current era. Labuschagne was interacting with the fans on Twitter earlier today, where he was asked to pick the two best Indian players and he straightaway came up with the names of Kohli and Ashwin.
Marnus Labuschagne has not played a lot of cricket with Virat Kohli because Virat returned from Australia early during the test series of 2020-21 and participated in only one test match, but Ashwin was someone who played through the entire series and he created a lot of problems for Labuschagne with the ball, on relatively flatter pitches.
Labuschagne has recently become the no. 1 batsman in the world by averaging over 60 in the longest format of the game in the last couple of years. However, he is still not considered a proven player by many experts as he is yet to play a test match in India which is the toughest place to tour for any overseas batsman.
There have been many great batsmen in the past who have scored heaps in Australia and countries of the southern hemisphere but have struggled whenever they have travelled to India and there isn’t a bigger example than the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting himself, who struggled in India big time.
No signs suggest yet that Labuschagne hasn’t got what it takes to score runs in India and it’s very much possible that he might be able to score as fluently in India as he has done back home in Australia, but until he does it, there will always be question marks over his credentials.
Ravichandran Ashwin is likely to create more trouble for Marnus Labuschagne on Indian turf
If Marnus Labuschagne found Ashwin a massively challenging bowler on flat pitches of Australia, he will be in for an even tougher challenge when he faces the champion off-spinner on Indian turf, because the Indian pitches will offer Ashwin plenty of turn and bounce and that’s where Ashwin is at his lethal best.
Virat & Ashwin
— Marnus Labuschagne (@marnus3cricket) January 10, 2022
As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, he has not been in great touch with the bat in test cricket for about 18 to 24 months, but it’s the weight of runs he has piled on in the past that still keeps him in the top bracket of modern-day cricketers and Labuschagne had no hesitation in picking Kohli as one of India’s best.
