Grateful for Sachin Tendulkar’s words of appreciation, elates Marnus Labuschagne

With dark clouds and a certain defeat for Australia looming in the background at Lord’s in August, Marnus Labuschagne, who had replaced Steve Smith as a concussion substitute, got hit on the helmet on his very second ball by a Jofra Archer bouncer and was instantly floored just like his teammate.

However, soon after the blow, the concussion sub transformed into a super-sub, as the Queenslander then went on to score an impeccable 59, saving Australia from the blushes. That knock also turned out to be the turning point in Labsuchagne’s career as the 25-year-old, post-Lord’s, nailed a place in the team and also rose to No.3 in the ICC Test Rankings in under 6 months.

The knock at Lord’s was also what caught the eye of a certain Sachin Tendulkar as the Indian legend, last week, revealed that he identified the Australian as a ‘special batsman’ within 15 minutes of watching him bat and further went on to praise the Queenslander for his technique, temperament and mental strength.  

Labuschagne, now, has responded to Sachin’s comments and has expressed his gratitude over the Indian legend’s words of praise and attested that he was ‘stoked’ to read Sachin’s words about him. The 25-year-old, who finished the calendar year of 2019 as the highest run-getter in Test cricket, further went on to describe the fielding as ‘amazing’. 

"It was pretty amazing. One that definitely when I saw it I was quick to read it and it really hit me. These are pretty amazing words from someone of that calibre. I'm very grateful for his words and I'm just stoked," Labuschagne said in a video posted by cricket.com.au on Monday.

Labuschagne, who is not a part of Australia’s T20I plans, will not be travelling to South Africa and will be partaking in the next round of Sheffield Shield matches that will commence on February 14.