Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne believes India's historic fourth-innings chase at the Gabba has little relevance in 2021 as they enter the final day of a gripping Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. In that memorable win in Brisbane, India successfully chased down 328 to reach the series. They will have to repeat a similar effort at the MCG on Monday to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and boost their chances of reaching the ICC World Test Championship Final as Australia ended Day 4 at 228/9 with a lead of 333 runs .
Despite many of India's key players from the 2021 triumph still in place, Labuschagne believes conditions in Melbourne and the current context of the series are vastly different to those in Brisbane three years ago.
“That wicket at the Gabba was flat,” Labuschagne recalled on Sunday after his innings of 70 at the MCG, as quoted by the ICC.
“Some cracks appeared there for the memory, but the wicket itself was very nice,” he said.
“I remember that wicket because I think it (the match) started almost a day or two days early and it was like a day 2 to day 1 wicket and it was quite firm,” he added.
“There was a bit of bounce there, like you get in Brisbane, but it was a nice wicket,” he noted.
“And we were also in that position in that Test where we had to win the series, so we had to try and put up a total,” he said.
“Ideally we would have wanted to involve India more in that match and probably bowl a few less overs, but because we had to win we had to risk it a bit more,” he noted.
With Australia yet to be dismissed in the second innings, the exact target India will have to aim for remains uncertain. Tailenders Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland frustrated the visitors by adding an unbeaten 51-run stand in the final session, pushing Australia's lead past 300.
Labuschagne also revealed that Australia had considered making a statement in the final session, but a brilliant spell from Jasprit Bumrah, which saw the Aussies lose four wickets in quick succession, forced them to abandon that plan.
“The perfect result for us would probably have looked like a bowl tonight and putting them under pressure,” Labuschagne said, as quoted by ICC.
“But the way the wicket played and the way India bowled and came out and put us under pressure in those first 40 to 50 overs, that was not an option for us,” he said.
“It became let's get as many runs as we can and that's obviously creeping towards a nice total now, but there was a time when it could have been 250 or 270 (run lead), or maybe even less for a while,” he added .
“So I think we came through that very well and the lower order deserves a lot of credit, for the way they managed that last part,” he noted.
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