'We are probably just ahead' - Labuschagne

At the end of a terrific day's play at the MCG, Australia sit pretty with a lead of 333 runs with the final wicket pair looking solid with a partnership that has in all probability put the hosts in command. Speaking after the day's play, Labuschagne admitted that the final few minutes of the day was exciting to watch from the dressing room.

"India definitely clawed it back there today, and we're probably going into day five, 333, you know, I would say that we're probably just ahead," Labuschange admitted. But I would say that it was amazing. I was sitting up at the top with our batting coach, Michael Di Venuto, and I was just watching every ball, we're scrapping for runs. There were overthrows, leg byes, running twos, that last bit had everything. I mean, we even had the game finished with a no-ball wicket into a last ball four. So, I mean, people that say Test cricket isn't exciting. I'm a player and I was watching and I was excited."

Labuschagne also revealed that Australia's ideal plan coming into the fourth day was disrupted by India's comeback as the hosts had initially planned to pile on the runs and declare to have a crack at India before stumps. However, with the middle order collapsing, the home side had to consolidate and review their targets for the day.

"We obviously had the perfect outcome for us, and that probably looked like having a bowl tonight and putting them under pressure," he noted. "But you know, the way the wicket played and the way India bowled and came out and put us under pressure in that first 40 to 50 overs, that wasn't an option for us.

"It became, 'let's get as many runs as we can', and that's obviously creeping into a nice total now, but you know, there was a time there where it could have been, 250, 270, maybe even less there for a bit. So I think we navigated that really well, and the lower order deserve a lot of credit for how they managed that last part."

Labuschagne himself deserved a lot of credit for Australia's fightback as he once again showed tremendous resolve to fight it out there in the middle with 70 valuable runs. On putting a price tag on his wicket every time he walks out to bat, Labuschagne admitted that it was something that he learnt at a young age.

"I didn't want to get off the field and I always wanted to bat," he noted. "So if I got out, I had to stop batting. So I decided that I wasn't going to hit the ball in the air for a while, and maybe I should have done that in the first innings. But yeah, it's something that I probably learned as a kid, and it's probably seeped through into my game, and it's probably a little bit more part of my nature as a player."

Alongside Labuschagne, it was skipper Pat Cummins who frustrated India with that rescue act for the seventh wicket as Australia crawled back from 91/6. "Pat was amazing," Labuschagne said. "I mean, he took the game on. He knows his scoring areas and he's played some amazing innings. I mean, we talked a little bit about that Edgbaston (Ashes 2023) innings today as well, up in the changing room. He just finds a way when the team needs him to scrap and find a way to get big contributions to the match."

Labuschagne also admitted that there was a clear plan during the partnership to ensure he faced Bumrah at one end ensuring Cummins is shielded. "Our conversation when Pat came out, I sort of said to Sean Abbott, who is the 12th man, I think I should just face Bumrah here," he recalled. "Because obviously I'd been batting for maybe 90 balls or something and I had a fair feel in lining him up and he was hot. I mean, he got three wickets in two overs.

"And so I just said to Pat when he came out, I was like, 'what do you think?' I'll just take Bumrah and we can run on the other guys. But let's just make sure that I'm at the non-strikers end, at the end of each over to make sure that if Bumrah bowls it, I can just face as many overs as we can. And we kind of stuck to that process and then we just tried to make sure that at the end of each over that we don't get stuck because then they stop bowling Bumrah for a bit and tried to catch us out.

"And they did once, Pat faced one ball in our partnership of him and somehow scooted it through gully and we're back there. But yeah, like I said, I think a lot's got to go to Pat and the team just for the process of how we wanted to deal with it. We talked about it at the start of the series and it's good for us to see the rewards come now."