New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS): Australia top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne has responded to David Warner’s comments casting doubt on his return to form in Adelaide Test by asking the former to check how many times he has been caught at gully.
Labuschagne broke his poor run of form by making an assertive 64 in Australia’s ten-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval. But Warner had a different look, saying he wasn’t totally convinced about Labuschagne coming back to form, and pointed towards his lack of awareness in giving a catch to 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.
“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.
To this, Labuschagne said this to 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 expressed surprise over him being signalled out for having a looser approach with the bat. "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.