Australia’s top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne has responded to David Warner’s comments about his form, asking the former opener to check how many times he’s been caught at gully. Labuschagne ended his poor run of form with an assertive 64 in Australia’s ten-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval. However, Warner said he wasn’t fully convinced about Labuschagne’s return to form and pointed out his lack of awareness in getting caught at gully off Nitish Kumar Reddy’s bowling.
“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. From that perspective, he had the best conditions to come out and bat in. But he got out the same way he always does when he gets over 50, hitting it straight to gully. 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 told Fox Sports.
In response, 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 can only remember being 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.”
“It’s a two-edged sword. The week before, I wasn’t playing enough shots, and then this week, people are unhappy because I’m playing too many shots. At 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 finding ways to score runs. That’s what I did last week, and hopefully, we can have a repeat. When I get that opportunity again, I’ll make sure I convert it into a big score.” Labuschagne added, “I was a little bit disappointed to get out at the stage I did last week, but that’s part of the game. The benefit is that it set up the chance for someone else to take advantage of that, which is good.”
