[Pictures] Ravichandran Ashwin pulls out of a delivery after seeing non-striker Marnus Labuschagne out of his crease in 2nd IND vs AUS Test
Senior Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne tried to unsettle each other with some mind games on Day 1 of the second Test of the series in Delhi on Friday, February 17.
In the 19th over of the Australian innings, Ashwin stopped in his delivery stride after seeing Labuschagne outside the crease at the non-striker's end. The Indian off-spinner stared at the batter before walking back to his bowling mark.
Labuschagne trying to play chess with Ashwin. This is not end well for you, young kid. #INDvAUS https://t.co/iSH5m6bi5n
Interestingly, in response to the warning, Labuschagne stood behind the stumps ahead of the next delivery.
Marnus Labuschagne at non striker end while Ashwin is bowling.
Ashwin to Marnus Labuschagne: tera ye dar mujhe achha laga.
😆😆
#INDvsAUS https://t.co/emWA8Ufnk5
Notably, Ashwin is a big advocate of the run-out at the non-striker's end and has been very vocal about his stance. While playing for Kings XI Punjab (re-christened as Punjab Kings) in 2019, he dismissed Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler in a similar fashion after the batter backed up too far before the ball was released.
Ravichandran Ashwin's double blow puts India on top at lunch on Day 1
Ravichandran Ashwin had the last laugh as he dismissed Marnus Labuschagne soon after the incident. The star Aussie batter was dismissed in the 23rd over by the crafty spinner.
Labuschagne was out leg before while pressing forward to defend the ball. While the on-field umpire adjudged it not out, India opted for a review and the umpire had to overturn the decision.
The right-handed batter had to walk back after scoring 18 runs off 25 balls. With the dismissal, Ashwin completed 700 wickets in first-class cricket.
Ashwin struck once again in the same over, picking up the prized wicket of Steve Smith, who was out caught behind.
Bowling around the stumps, he pitched one outside the off-stump. Smith was undone as he played for the turn but the ball held its line and took the outside edge of his bat. Ashwin became the first bowler to dismiss Smith for a duck twice in Test cricket.
Meanwhile, Australian opener Usman Khawaja completed a gritty half-century in the first session on the opening day. His partner David Warner coped with yet another failure, falling to Mohammed Shami after scoring 15 runs.
India and Australia playing XIs for 2nd Test
IND: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
AUS: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, and Matthew Kuhnemann.