Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne denied falling asleep in the dressing room right before coming out to bat in his team's second innings in the ongoing World Test Championship final against India.
The ace batsman was caught on camera sleeping when David Warner got dismissed for just one run. Labuschagne, though, woke up quickly and realised it was his turn to bat.
Marnus Labuschagne said, "I was just resting my eyes between balls and just relaxing, you can't watch the game all the time. I didn't have too many rests there when Siraj banged that first one in". (To SEN). pic.twitter.com/w5Qgsp7UTH
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 10, 2023
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Even Harsha Bhogle was heard saying,
Marnus Labuschagne at No.3, that is one of the more extraordinary arrivals to the crease that you will see. Are you awake, Marnus? Have you brushed your teeth? Have you had a coffee?
Former Australian coach Justin Langer said,
The appeal of the crowd, there’s the alarm! Oh, I’m up and going. I will brush my teeth, a quick espresso coffee to get me going and now he’s got to face his first ball.
But speaking to SEN Cricket after the day's play, the Aussie batsman claimed,
I was just resting my eyes between balls and just relaxing. I was trying to calm my nerves a little bit, you can’t watch the game all the time, I got up there and was awake pretty soon.
Labuschagne was unbeaten on 41 off 118 balls as Australia extended their lead to 296 runs after day 3.
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