Leading the charts for the most test runs in 2019, Marnus Labuschagne has really come about in this Australian test squad. In a recent press conference, Marnus pointed out how everything about his career has been turbulent, yet rewarding at the same time. Things have always been a bit unconventional for the 25 year old from Queensland.

Avid Cricket lovers first heard the name in the year 2014, when he took a screamer at short leg as a 12th man to dismiss India’s Varun Aaron. Videos starting surfacing of Marnus catching slices of onions in his house to work on his reflexes. 4 years down the line, he made a place for himself in the test side at Dubai, and didn’t get off to the best of starts; scoring just 81 in his first 4 innings, with a duck in his very first test innings.

With a few decent knocks against India earlier this year, he made sure that he got on to that plane to England for the all-important Ashes. It was in this series that we saw something new. In the second test at Lord’s, Steve Smith had been hit in the head by a 92 mph Jofra Archer delivery. He had to go off, and Cricket saw it’s first ever concussion replacement in Marnus Labuschagne. There were doubts about how he’d fare against a lethal bowling attack and testing conditions. The classy right hander put all those talks to bed as he eased his way to a half century in not just that innings, but in his next 3 innings after that.

He has taken that form with him against Pakistan, and scored 2 back to back 100’s. There might be a lot of unconventional things about Marnus’ career, but there certainly isn’t anything unconventional about his technique, as he is now scoring runs for fun at number 3 for Australia. As someone who enjoys watching classy test batsmen go about their business, I hope Marnus Labuschagne can continue having years like this one, and make that no.3 spot his very own.

-Vibhor Dubey

As I write this, Indore is witnessing one of the best things to have happened to Indian Test Cricket in the past year or so. Mayank Agarwal is currently batting on 188*, on his way to his second double hundred of the season, and we’re only half-way through November. Along with scoring a plethora of runs in First-Class Cricket, the Indian opener has made a name for himself in List-A Cricket as well. With mammoth scores in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare trophy and Deodhar Trophy, he has captured the attention of everyone who is a keen follower of Indian Domestic Cricket.

At the start of this decade, early 2010s, Mayank was known as a predominantly limited overs format batsman. But with intense and gruelling work that he has put in season-in, season-out, he has transformed his game and has become an all format Cricketer. He got more than 1100 runs in the Ranji Trophy season of 2017-18, and since then he hasn’t looked back. There was immense competition for an opening spot in the test side, with the likes of KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, all scoring, and scoring big. But the man from Karnataka didn’t stop. He didn’t just knock on the selector’s door, he broke it down with consistently scoring big runs.

As someone who used to play Cricket professionally in the same academy as him, I’d seen his work-ethics from close quarters. It is now that those long hours in the nets has paid off. Mayank’s hunger for runs has absolutely bemused me. It is one thing to have a good run, it is incredible to keep that up year after year, season after season. His willingness to score runs is second to none when it comes to Indian domestic cricket and that is one reason why he has delivered time and time again in all the opportunities that he has gotten. His last 5 innings (1 of which is still continuing) in Test Matches have amassed over 530* runs. He is a prime example of how the sheer hunger for runs can take you a long way, be it any format.

As a fan of Test match batting and players who are technically sound, I really hope Mayank cements his place in the side and makes the opening slot a place of his own. And I wish that in 20 years time when we talk about this dominant Indian side, that we can remember this name as someone who took Indian batting to a whole new level.

-Vibhor Dubey