IND vs AUS | Twitter in splits as infuriated Smith complains to umpires of Jadeja-Marnus banter

03/04/2025

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Steve Smith was annoyed at Ravindra Jadeja after he kept Marnus Labuschagne from taking a single in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final between India and Australia in Dubai

Be it Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard or Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, friendships in the world of cricket hold a special place in the heart of fans. The camraderie between Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne has come to define the modern era, and led to a hilarious situation in Dubai.

Australia got off to a flying start in the Champions Trophy semi-final against India despite losing Cooper Conolly early courtesy of a Travis Head blitzkrieg of 39 runs from just 33 deliveries, featuring five boundaries and two maximums. However, once Varun Chakravarthy got rid of the opening ace in the ninth over, the spin quartet of him, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel operated in tandem to peg back the eperience Australian pair of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. The two left-arm orthodox spinners proved to be especially threatening with the joy of bowling on a helpful surface more than apparent on their faces and all this chaotic energy culminated in a hilarious incident in the 21st over.

Ravindra Jadeja had the ball in hand and with Smith looking to push him down the ground for singles, the left-arm spinner had already tangled with Marnus on several occasions at the non-striker's end. However, the veteran afforded Smith no such opportunity for the first five deliveries on this occasion but the batter ultimately managed to rock back into the crease against the final delivery and force it across the deck. The Kookaburra was heading straight for Marnus at the non-striker's end who hurried back into his crease but ran into Jadeja in the process and amid all the chaos, the white rock struck Marnus' bat and trickled along into a gap. Smith sensed the opportunity for a single and quickly called for it but as Marnus tried to obey his skipper, Jadeja held the 30-year-old across his torso and did not let go until the ball had been fielded. Smith was furious as he immediately pointed at the umpire complaining about the duo but the fact that Marnus had shared a giggle and hug with Jadeja at the end of it all meant no action was taken.

Twitterati, meanwhile, had no complains with all the amusement.

Tactics

— ashik (@ashik1587212)

No run

Jadeja not letting labuschagne take the run 😂 and Steve Smith is not happy about it.
— Radha (@Rkc1511165)

CCCC

KL Rahul Guiding Jadeja before Marnus Labuschagne wicket.

And just after this guidance Jadeja got the wicket of Marnus.
— KL'sGIRL (@Silverglohss_1)

DDDD

Ravindra Jadeja grabbing Marnus Labuschagne to stop him from running. 😂
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra)

EEEE

😂 Jadeja groping Labuschagne
— Nitin Shukla (@nitsshukla)

FFFF

For those who says that Jadeja is not great anymore in ODI. this is for you MFs
— Prateek Mishra (@Prateek998877)

GGGG

First Labuschagne now josh Inglis oooh Jadeja, there's a reason why everyone call you Sir Ravindra Jadeja 🗿
— Pikachu (@11eleven_4us)

HHHH

Ravindra Jadeja gets Marnus Labuschagne and dangerous Josh Inglis 👊 Sir Jadeja for a reason 😎 jaddu HEADache Travis Head
— Zoze Morita (@zozemorita)

IIII

Ravindra Jadeja showing his class yet again !!

Broke the threatening partnership with the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne !!

— Cricketism (@MidnightMusinng)

JJJJ