Sachin Tendulkar heaps massive praise on Marnus Labuschagne; likens the Australian's batting style to his own

Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has heaped massive praise on Marnus Labuschagne, likening the Australian star’s playing style to his own batsmanship.

Labuschagne has enjoyed a fascinating rise to the upper echelons of the cricketing world in the past year, with his breakthrough coming in the most unlikely of circumstances when he came on as a concussion substitute for Steve Smith during the Ashes.

Since then, we’ve seen continuous displays of grit, excellent batting ability, and an all-encompassing ease with which Labuschagne has gone about his business, propelling himself 107 places in ICC’s list of the best Test cricket batsmen to sit in third behind modern-day greats like Steve Smith and Virat Kohli.

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Now, Labuschagne has received probably the most distinguished acclaim of his infant career, with Tendulkar claiming that the all-rounder’s skill reminds him of his own exploits with the bat.

“His footwork was incredible, so he would be the one I would say,” Tendulkar replied at the SCG on Friday, when asked whether any modern-day player reminds him of himself.

“I saw Marnus getting hit (on the helmet by) the second ball he faced from Jofra Archer and post that, the 15 minutes he batted I said ‘this player looks special, there is something about him’.

“His footwork was precise and footwork is not physical, it’s mental. If you’re not thinking positively in your mind then your feet don’t move. “So that clearly indicated to me that this guy is mentally strong.”

Prior to this, Labuschagne had been at the receiving end of immense praise from Indian captain Kohli, who stated that the Aussie has the mindset to rule the cricketing world for years to come.