It was a good day at Gabba. Peter Siddle was all pumped up. It was his birthday and he gifted himself a hattrick. An outside off delivery that caught the edge of Cook, A beauty to dismiss Prior and a yorker to kiss the pads of Broad who had his wicket reviewed but the decision went in favour of Australia. Siddle roared, and his teammates were jumping in joy as they ran to hug him. The crowd was on their feet so was 16-year-old Labuschagne who was behind the camera helping out the umpires with the camera and the hotspot. He was happy to be a part of Siddle’s hattrick. More than that, Labuschagne was happy to take $90 fee home.
The Emigrate from South Africa did not speak any other language than Africaans until he was 10. The time he moved to Australia. In a year or so, he was a part of Queenland’s under-age program. Labuschagne always loved to make use of the opportunity that comes by his way. It was evident even when he made his first-class debut. Four years later, the opener announced himself in the first match while playing for Queensland by scoring a fighting 87.
Months later, he became a substitute fielder for Mitch Marsh during the Test against India. He had a moment there. He took an extraordinary catch that you would call as announcing himself. Varun Aaron had a part to play there. Thanks to him for hitting the ball low, making the catch difficult for Labuschagne. He had his name announced now.
He was slowly building his name, creating scores and knocking the doors of selectors.
The JLT One-Day Cup in 2017 became the turning point of the career. No, not in a good way but he became the first player to be penalised for “fake fielding”. He announced his name, again, but for all the wrong reasons.
Still, he had performances that could give him an international call. 2018 it was. He faced Pakistan at their den. The hopes were high on him. He knew that too.
He panicked. Got out. For a duck. And scored a 13. This was a debut he wanted to forget. He wasn’t the right choice, voiced many legends. A few backed him as well. He found his form against Sri Lanka, performances which you don’t call it the best, but you’d take it. 81.
What followed was poor performances again, and he couldn’t gain the confidence of the selectors. He was warming the bench.
Came the Ashes. Life slowly started to get better for Australia, thanks to Steve Smith. He broke records, created milestones, gave Australia big wins. Until he faced Archer who knocked him down.
Least did Labuschagne expected that he would go in at the place of Steve Smith. It’s an added responsibility. You cannot replace Smith, but he tried. He tried to make sure that Smith’s absence was not felt. He tried.
Again, these are the scores which are not the best but certainly, you’d take it. He tried.
What followed next was Pakistan. The team that gave him nightmares when he debuted. He even thought that he wouldn’t play for the country again after his debut.
He had to erase history. He had to go in and perform.
He did. After scoring his fifty, after ending the day unbeaten, he went to his home rather than the hotel. He wanted to stay quiet and doesn’t want to think about the next day. The next big day where he would go on to make history with a ton.
He was waiting for the moment for a long time now, but at the same time, he should remain calm. Well, he couldn’t. At 3 am, he was going through the mobile, reading stupid things that were written about him.
Anxiety took over. He tried to sleep. He tried.
The next day, with the anxiety creepily climbing inside him, there was a slight change in his routine. He wanted to make everything perfect that day. He was standing on his bat’s handle which was lying on the boundary rope to make them as flexible as it can. In a way, it was taking off his anxiety as well.
While batting slow, he got to 97. His teammates were on their feet, and he could see his coach signalling him to keep it safe.
Welcome back, anxiety.
He didn’t know what to do, he became “really greedy”. He then tried to calm himself by remembering the advice of his batting coach Neil D’Costa-“hit the ball to long-on and get to the other end”.
Unfortunately, the anxiety won the battle, and he just did right opposite to what he should have done. He tried to knock one off. He tried to hit the ball as hard as he could. Thankfully, the ball ran right between the fielders behind and got to the boundary at the third-man region.
He tried too hard, and it was worse to reach the ton this way, but again, he’d take it.
What followed was human emotions. Smiles. He was erasing the history books and rewriting them at the place which has always been nice to him. Gabba was always nice to him. It once again was.
As Australia defeated Pakistan, Labuschagne had his moment. Had a great match, something he would be proud of. At the end of the day, to make things even more special, when every other player was shaking hands with each other, Smith, the team’s best batter walked to Labuschagne, handed over a stump, applauded him for what he had done in the match. A cherry on Labuschagne’s cake. Something he would remember forever.
