Marnus Labuschagne retires his bat from ODI World Cup 2023 final

Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head. (Photo by Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Marnus Labuschagne has decided to retire the bat he used in the ODI World Cup 2023 final last year at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

India hosted the ODI World Cup exclusively for the first time last year in October-November. The final was played on November 19 between two-time champions India and five-time champions Australia. Labuschagne came out to bat when Australia were in a spot of bother but he showed great composure and scored an unbeaten 58 off 110 balls, hitting four boundaries, to help the Men in Yellow win a record-extending sixth World Cup title.

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The right-handed batter recently shared the photo of the bat he used in the final which was in a worn out condition with the wood scraping off it. Labuschagne revealed his decision to retire the bat.

“Think it’s finally time to retire the World Cup final bat,” wrote Labuschagne in his Instagram post while sharing the image of the bat.

In the final, Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field first on a tacky surface. Rohit Sharma got India off to a blistering start and Virat Kohli also scored a fine half-century. However, the other Indian batters found it difficult to rotate strike, let alone hit boundaries. KL Rahul top-scored with 66 from 107 balls but his knock comprised only a solitary boundary. In the end, the hosts were bowled out for 240 as Mitchell Starc starred with a three-for.

In reply, the Aussies lost the wickets of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Steve Smith inside the first seven overs and were precariously placed at 47/3. Australia were in desperate need of a partnership to settle the nerves and it was provided by the duo of Labuschagne and Travis Head, who smashed 137 off just 120 balls.

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The fourth-wicket partnership yielded 192 runs for Australia from 215 balls, putting Cummins’ side in the box seat. Head was eventually dismissed in the 43rd over with Australia needing another couple of runs to win the game. Glenn Maxwell walked out to the middle and took just one ball to score the remaining runs as Australia won by six wickets with seven overs to spare. While Head hogged the limelight, the supporting role played by Labuschagne also received a lot of praise.