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London: Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne showed custom-made shorts marking their Ashes 2021-22 victory on Day 3 of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against India at the Oval.
Interestingly, Australia will stay back in England after the WTC final for the upcoming Ashes series that starts on June 16 Edgbaston.
During the 2021-22 series, Australia dominated England by winning the first three games in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The fourth Test in Sydney was a draw before the hosts made it 4-0 with a win in Hobart in the fifth. To commemorate the victory, Labuschagne decided to customise his blue shorts with winning pictures from the series.
During that series, Labuschagne was second highest scorer for Australia with 355 runs from five innings with a best of 103 in the second Test. Travis Head topped the batting charts for the hosts. Post WTC final, Labuschagne and Australia will stay back in England for another enthralling five-match encounter.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing WTC final, Australia are in a strong position against India. Batting first, Australia posted 469, thanks to centuries from Head and Steve Smith. Then the bowlers did a commendable job to bowl India out for 296 as Australia took a huge first innings lead of 173 runs. Labuschagne scored 26 and 41 in both innings.
Earlier on Friday, Labuschagne was also caught napping after David Warner’s dismissal. He was to come at No.3 after Warner’s dismissal but kept his eyes closed with his pads on. However, a loud cheer from the crowd woke him up and he entered the field.
The funny act was soon caught on camera and the video went viral in no time. “I was just resting my eyes between balls and just relaxing,” he told SEN Cricket. “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.”
