Australia Star Wants Team To Pull Off A 'Cheteshwar Pujara' In Test Series vs India

Ahead of the first Test against India at Perth, Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne said that his side would be looking to play the "long game" while batting in order to tire out and pressurise bowlers, something which Indian veteran Cheteshwar Pujara had done in on past two tours. As both sides, placed first and second in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) table, look to secure their title clash chances, their fast bowling attacks on bouncy, fast surfaces would hold the key. Team India is fielding a relatively inexperienced line-up of leading pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who will be supported by newer stars like Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Labuschagne, the highest run-getter from 2020-21 BGT series in Australia with 426 runs in four matches, averaging 53.25 with a century and two fifties, wants Australian batting to feast on this inexperience and just bat, bat and bat, making his opponents bowl longer spells and wear themselves down.

"It is (series) going to be important for all of us. I think the way we play, we are at our best when we're playing the long game. We understand that getting them back for their second and third spells, putting them under pressure and letting them come to us and us putting pressure back on them through overs in the field and time in the game, especially over a five-Test series, that is really important," said Labuschagne as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

"Because as you get into the third, fourth, fifth Test, if they are trying to play the same team, and those bowlers are rolling into 100, 150, 200 overs by the third Test, it is going to make a big difference in the series," he added.

Just putting things in perspective, Pujara played 1,258 balls on the