NEW DELHI: Australian top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne has fired back at David Warner’s criticism, which questioned his return to form during the second Adelaide Test.
The Australia no.3 Labuschagne asked the former opener to review his claim about how often he gets caught at gully.
Labuschagne ended a lean patch with a confident 64 in Australia’s ten-wicket victory in the day-night Test against India. However, Warner remained unconvinced, pointing to Labuschagne’s dismissal off Nitish Kumar Reddy, caught at gully, as indicative of a recurring flaw in his techinique.
“I’m still not convinced with Marnus. I don’t think that was anywhere near what we know he’s capable of. He might have got a couple out of the middle, got a couple of freebies, batted well that night to get through but they bowled poorly.
“So from that perspective, he had the best conditions to come out and bat in. But he got out the same way he always does get out when he gets over 50, hits it straight to gully. So there’s a lack of awareness there of what he’s got to be mindful of. I don’t think he’s anywhere near where he should be,” Warner had said this to Fox Sports.
Responding to Warner’s remark, Labuschagne told News Corp on Friday, “I would like to see him check how many times I’ve been caught at gully, because apparently I get out there every week. I’ve looked back and I think I can only remember getting caught at gully twice. So I might have to have a look at Bull’s (Warner’s) comment there. But like I said, everyone’s here to write newspapers, write articles.”
Labuschagne also addressed the criticism of his approach at the crease, noting its contradictory nature.
“It’s a two-edged sword. Week before, I wasn’t playing enough shots, and then this week, people are unhappy because you’re playing too many shots. So the end of the day, I’m not here to please everyone. I’m here to win games for Australia.”
“It’s not about trying to convince people I’m back or not. For me, it’s about winning games for Australia and me finding ways to score runs. That’s what I did last week and hopefully we can have a repeat. And when I get that opportunity again, and get myself in to make sure I make it a big score.
“(I was a) little bit disappointed getting out the stage that I did last week, but that’s part of the game. And the benefit is that it was able to be set up for someone else to take advantage of that, which is good,” he concluded.
