Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has started preparing for the upcoming spin challenge on the tour of Pakistan. Australia will be touring Pakistan for the first time since 1998.
The tour includes three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I, which will begin with a Test match in Karachi on March 3 and the third and last Test match will be played from March 21 to Match 25.
After that, the teams will play three ODIs, which will begin from March 29 and a sole T20I game will be played on April 5.
Labuschagne, who's currently the world's number 1 Test batter, posted a video on Twitter and revealed how he is using a rubber mat with a little customization to practice facing spin bowling.
The rubber mat was smattered with sheets of taped-down aluminum and metal as the pitch, is helping sharpen his skills for the challenge ahead. The ball landing on the aluminum would skid, while the one pitching on the mat will turn, he explained in the video.
"In the sub-continent one of the big factors that everyone sees is the ball spinning big and then also sliding on big. You always see the replays of all the straight balls getting wickets, but people don't watch the balls in between that are spinning big.
"The idea is the ball will skid on if it hits the metal fabric or the tape side. And then if it hits in between in the rubber, it's going to spin. From a batter's perspective, I'm trying to set up here and work on how I'm going to play in these conditions - play for the inside for the slide, picking up the length, looking for balls to score off," he said in the video.
