Marnus Labuschagne was hit on his thumb by a Mohammed Siraj delivery
Marnus Labuschagne (Credits: Twitter)

It did not take Mohammed Siraj long to make his presence felt in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final between India and Australia at the Oval in London.

The right-arm pacer gave India the crucial early breakthrough by dismissing the in-form Usman Khawaja early in the innings. Khawaja had starred with the bat when Australia toured India earlier this year for a four-match Test series. He finished the series as the highest run-scorer, scoring 333 runs. The southpaw was the only batsman to cross the 300-run mark in the series.

Khawaja, however, could not get going in the first innings of the WTC final as Mohammed Siraj sent him back for a 10-ball duck. The left-handed batsman ended up edging a wobble seam delivery from Siraj behind the stumps to wicketkeeper KS Bharat.

Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja (Credits: Twitter)

Mohammed Siraj vs Marnus Labuschagne gets spicy:

Soon after dismissing Usman Khawaja, Mohammed Siraj turned his focus towards new batsman Marnus Labuschagne. And it would not be wrong to say that the bowler has dominated the early rounds against the Australia batting star.

Also Read: ICC WTC Final: Watch As Mohammed Siraj Tries To Unsettle Marnus Labuschagne With Deadly Stare And Verbal Volleys

On the first ball of the sixth over, Mohammed Siraj made it clear that he had his eyes on Labuschagne. Right after Labuschagne defended the first ball of the over, Siraj ran up to him, gave him a stare and was seen saying something to him in an animated manner before turning back.

And in his very next over, he nearly dealt a serious injury to the right-handed batsman. On the first ball of the eighth over, Siraj’s rising delivery hit Labuschagne on his thumb, leaving him in pain. The extra bounce and the pace of the delivery made Labuschagne misjudge the delivery. He got hit on the left thumb as he tried to leave the ball at the last moment. It was a painful blow as Labuschagne dropped his bat instantly before the physio attended him.

Here is a clip of the incident:

Talking about the game, Australia were on 54 for 1 after 15 overs at the time of writing this report. After losing Khawaja’s wicket early, Australia have managed to steady the ship thanks to David Warner and Labuschagne.