'Told the umpire, Ashwin is trying to bowl before I'm ready': Labuschagne on episode with India off-spinner and Rohit

The spirit at which the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia has been played has been anything like the previous encounters between these two great cricketing countries. There have been no sledging episodes, not even glares or stares. No comments either in the lead-up to a Test or at the end of it that may trigger the opposition. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja have been all smiles with Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. There was just that one incident on Day 3 of the third Test in Indore involving Rohit, Labuschagne and Ashwin that required the on-field umpire's intervention. That is, however, not to suggest by any means that tempers flew. It was, in fact, one of those Labuschagne things to get under the skin of Ashwin.

It happened in the ninth over of Australia's chase when Labuschagne backed away, not facing up to Ashwin, seeing the India off-spinner bowl with a shorter run-up. Ashwin had bowled with his normal run-up in the four deliveries of the over and decided to use a shorter run-up to catch the batter off guard. Labuschagne spotted that and decided to back away, smiling.

Ashwin settled into his shorter run-up again but Labuschagne refused to take guard. It was at that point, India captain Rohit and umpire Joel Wilson got involved and had a brief chat with the Australian No.3.

Ahead of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, Labuschagne finally revealed what transpired between him and Ashwin that day.

“He turned to a short run and I wasn’t watching because I had the rhythm of his run-up, so my routine stays to that rhythm,” Labuschagne told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

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“So I was like ‘I’m not facing up because I’m going to look down and then he’s going to bowl the ball’. I did it a few times, just pulled away. Then Joel came down and said ‘you have to face up when he’s ready’ and I said ‘happy to face up Joel, but he’s trying to bowl the ball before I’m ready’," he said.

Labuschagne said he understood that Ashwin was actually trying to do something different to upset his rhythm seeing the momentum of the match shifting towards Australia.

“It’s just the chess, the caginess, just trying to get you out of the rhythm of what he’s bowling,” Labuschagne said. “I credit him because I could sense the momentum of the game was shifted or potentially gone, but he’s so cagey and so good at the small things. That’s why I’ve always got a smile on my face out there. I appreciate where he’s coming from. I understand, hence I’m not facing up, because I know what you’re trying to do. It’s great cricket and great theatre," he added.

Labuschagne was right. The incident ended up affecting Ashwin more. He forced a ball change in the next over. The new cherry did not turn as much as the old one and Travis Head got stuck into him. Ashwin lost his control and Australia ran away with the chase to claim a 9-wicket victory.

Labuschagne, who has gotten off to a start in each of the six innings that he has batted in the series, said he has learned to trust his defence more as the series progressed.

“It’s the difference between knowing what you’re going to face and actually the reality of playing on it and what it does to you as a player,” he said. “As I’ve played more I’ve realised I can trust my defence more, where usually when the wickets are like that you want to play more shots. It’s hard to gain that without knowledge and without failure. I look back now and I think ‘geez I threw away a hundred in Nagpur's first day’. You look back on the series and you’re like geez that was one of the best wickets we’ve played on so far and I felt good but I just got away from my plan.”