Forgotten behind the heroics of Travis Head on November 19, 2023, was the performance of Marnus Labuschagne.
He entered with Australia 47 for 3 chasing 241 against a rampant India in Ahmedabad with a World Cup trophy on the line. Just over two hours later he remained unbeaten on 58 when the winning runs were struck. That innings capped a 19-match run for Labuschagne where he averaged 48.93 in ODI cricket, with one century, five fifties and just one single figure score.
Two-and-a-half years on, on the verge of his 32nd birthday, more often than not the most prolific age of an international batter's career, Labuschagne appears lost in the wilderness with the look of a man who has no idea how he will find his way out.
Since the 2023 World Cup final, he is averaging 17.73 in ODI cricket with just one half-century. That half-century, in Nottingham, came only 10 months and two innings on from the one in Ahmedabad. Since Nottingham, he averages 11.64 in 14 innings with two scores above 19. In seven ODIs across the last 12 months he has scored 27 runs off 70 deliveries, averaging 4.5, with 25 of those runs coming in his four innings on the current tour of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Australia's selectors are only 12 months on from dropping Labuschagne from the Test team. It was a move, at the time, that was described as a "circuit-breaker" to try and snap him out of a Test century slump that had dated back to the 2023 Ashes. Labuschagne has spoken openly about both the need for the axing and the technical work he has done to rectify the vulnerabilities that were being exposed at Test level in particular.
Twelve months on, after a middling Ashes marred by wasted starts and some familiar dismissals, his international century drought remains intact at 70 innings and counting across all forms. Australia's selectors and coaching staff are now grappling with what to do with him.
Labuschagne was supposed to be the post-Steve Smith firewall in the ODI side heading to next year's World Cup. In a batting order that will feature explosive powerplay batters in Head, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis, Labuschagne was set for the same role he had in 2023. South Africa's World Cup venues in particular loom as places where new ball batting might be the most challenging and innings' could be back ended. Labuschagne has an excellent ODI record in the country of his birth, having scored both his centuries there. But right now he is a firewall with the flimsiness and flammability of kindling.
The problems appear two-fold for Australia's hierarchy. Firstly, they can't send him back to domestic cricket to find form like they did last year. Labuschagne has proven he is far too good for that level. He was named Australia's domestic One-Day player of the season last summer with four centuries in six innings against four different state attacks, including eventual winners New South Wales.
But those performances probably say a lot more about the depth of Australia's white-ball bowling at the moment, which has been exposed at the 2025 Champions Trophy, the 2026 T20 World Cup, and on the current tour in the absence of the big three. There were 25 bowlers used in the four domestic games where Labuschagne dominated. Those with ODI wickets were Glenn Maxwell, Will Sutherland, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen and Liam Scott as of Tuesday. Riley Meredith and Jack Edwards were the only others with international appearances.
Secondly, the problem no longer appears technical. Labuschagne's 25 from 59 in the most recent four ODIs alone have showcased a player so fearful of getting out, he has forgotten how to access the scoring options that have made him a successful ODI batter previously. During Labuschagne's 2023 run, he consistently got started with ease against either pace or spin. Against the latter, he was effective in sitting back to work the ball into gaps with a vertical bat before unfurling an effective conventional sweep. In Pakistan he fell cheaply to both shots against left-arm orthodox Arafat Minhas in his first international series. Against the former, he would feast on anything straight or overpitched without taking excessive risk. In Mirpur on Tuesday, he missed a 123.9kph full inswinger from Mustafizur Rahman that he would have flicked through midwicket with ease at his best.
In between those failures, his run out in the final ODI in Lahore summed up his mindset. It was clear he was feeling the scoring pressure having bunkered down to scratch out 19 from 39 balls while skipper Josh Inglis was getting starved of strike having flown to 25 off 27. Labuschagne was so intent on getting his skipper back on strike he charged back for two when Inglis wasn't on the same wavelength. The mix-up was not entirely Labuschagne's fault with Inglis accepting some blame post-match having clearly not recognised the head space his partner was in.
It epitomised the state of Labuschagne's game right now, so desperate to do the right thing that he's committing self-sabotage.
He will leave no stone unturned as he searches for a way out of the wilderness. Whether Australia's selectors allow him the time remains to be seen.