WTC: THIS Australian batsman, not Virat Kohli is the top run-scorer so far

Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne is the top run-getter in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) so far. Labuschagne has managed to fend off competition from senior teammate Steve Smith to seal the top spot. Interestingly, neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit Sharma feature in the list of top three run-getters in the tournament. Labuschagne was on the fringes of Australia’s national set-up before the tournament started, and is currently on the third spot in the ICC Test batting rankings.

He accumulated 1,675 runs across 13 matches in the tournament. Labuschagne is followed by England skipper Joe Root who scored 1,660 runs across 20 games. Root scored 684 runs across three Tests in the backend of the tournament. The next highest run-scorer in the campaign is Australian batsman Steve Smith. Smith accumulated 1,341 runs across 13 matches. He led the way in the initial stages of the WTC, smashing 774 runs across four matches in the Ashes in 2019.

Highest number of centuries in WTC

Labuschagne has further scored the highest number of centuries in the tournament. The Australian smashed five centuries in the campaign along with nine further scores in excess of 50. The batsman scored his first ton against Pakistan in November 2019. He further went on to score three in a row and four in total for the summer. The fifth century was recorded in the Gabba thriller against India.

Labuschagne is trailed by five players. Babar Azam, Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Smith and Ben Stokes are those cricketers. They have accumulated four centuries. Rohit can catch Labuschange or even surpass him with a successful match in the WTC final. There have been 92 centuries so far in the tournament.

Labuschagne recently smashed a career-best T20 score to finish unbeaten on 93 in the UK’s T20 Blast competition. He smashed 10 boundaries and two sixes, making his presence felt with a stunning performance.

“Pleasing to get some runs but disappointing not to get us over the line. I never doubted I could get a fifty in T20 cricket but for me it’s about winning games with Glamorgan, Australia or Queensland. Early on my strokes weren’t too different (to longer formats) but through the middle of the innings it looks a lot different in terms of targeting the right areas, it’s a new and exciting challenge,” said the Australian in an interaction with BBC Sport Wales.

Labuschagne further expressed his desire to be a part of the Australian squad for the T20 World Cup in a few months.

“With Covid, the amount of quarantine that is needed for me to play in those games is almost 38 days. Any time you can’t go to play for Australia is a very disappointing time, but the silver lining is that I get to play most of the T20 comp here and almost double the amount of T20s I have played in my career. I’ve played 16 before and I will play 14 here,” he told The Times.

“I would love to be playing in the World Cup in a few months. I don’t know if it is a realistic goal from the selectors, but it is a realistic goal from my perspective,” added Labuchagne.