Injuries plague Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne before Adelaide Test, concerns grow for Australia's batting lineup

Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are the backbone of Australia's formidable batting lineup. Despite some recent struggles in Test matches, these two champions are always capable of turning the game in their team's favor. Both players have been putting in the hard work in practice sessions leading up to the pink-ball Adelaide Test against India. However, on Tuesday, both Smith and Labuschagne encountered some injury scares, causing concern among the Australian team.

During the net session at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, Steve Smith suffered a blow to his finger. Australia's No.4 batter was batting alongside Marnus Labuschagne and it was then that he was struck on his right hand.

The batter then cut short his training session and was attended by the team's physio. The seriousness of the injury is not known as of now but is expected to give a new headache to Australia's management.

Smith did return to the nets after a while but only for a brief period.

On the other hand, Marnus Labuschagne who is facing criticism from all corners for his form, was also struck by a rising delivery from assistant coach Daniel Vettori.

However, the No.3 batter continued to bat despite taking the blow. As soon as he was hit, Marnus Labuschagne fixed his gear and got up once again to continue batting.

Both Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith have been struggling for runs in the longest format. Smith has gone 23 innings without scoring a century.

The right-handed batter has returned to his original No.4 spot for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after having previously tried it out as an opening batter. Smith opted to open alongside Usman Khawaja after the retirement of David Warner.

In the first Test against India which the hosts lost by 295 runs, Smith registered scores of 0 and 17.

Marnus Labuschagne's dip in form is even more alarming than Steve Smith's. The batter has been struggling against the moving ball and the flaws in his technique were exposed by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in the first Test.

Marnus scored 2 runs off 52 balls in the first innings. He was then not able to trouble the scores in the second innings.

Recently, former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson had said that Marnus needs to be dropped for the crucial Adelaide Test.

Both Marnus and Steve Smith would now look to put their hand up in the Adelaide Test against India, set to begin on Friday, December 6.