Australia’s David Warner has expressed doubts over Marnus Labuschagne‘s performance in the second Test against India at the Adelaide Oval. Despite Australia’s convincing 10-wicket win, Marnus Labuschagne’s 64 in the first innings was met with some criticism from his former teammate Warner, who felt the knock didn’t reflect the player’s true capabilities.
Former Australia cricketer David Warner has voiced concerns over Marnus Labuschagne’s form despite a fighting fifty from him in Adelaide. Labuschagne recently struck 64 off 126 balls during the first innings of Adelaide Test against India. Marnus Labuschagne looked good to play a big knock this time but was caught superbly at gully by Yashasvi Jaiswal off the bowling of Nitish Kumar Reddy. Warner was clearly not impressed with his knock and even took a dig at the way he was dismissed.
Marnus Labuschagne scored 64 crucial runs in Australia’s pink ball test win
David Warner has insisted Marnus Labuschagne is still a long way off his own standards, despite the Queensland batsman hitting a half-century in Adelaide.
The spotlight has been on the top-order batsman after he struggled to score runs during the first Test in Perth, hitting just five runs across both innings.
The 30-year-old, who hasn’t scored a Test century since last year’s Ashes series, has been working hard in the nets on his form between the first and second Test and appeared to show some promise that the tide was turning at the Adelaide Oval, hitting 64 in the first innings.
But Warner has criticized Marnus Labuschagne’s ‘awareness’ and claimed that he continues to make the same mistakes before being dismissed. Warner pointed out that Marnus Labuschagne had a good opportunity to bat, with favorable conditions and a relatively poor bowling effort from the Indian side.
David Warner reveals why he’s ‘still not convinced’ over Marnus Labuschagne’s Test form despite his half-century in Adelaide 2nd Test
Former Australia opener David Warner feels Marnus Labuschagne is nowhere close to his best despite a gritty 64-run knock in the Adelaide Test against India. He believes Marnus Labuschagne got a few loose deliveries from the visitors, which helped him get his eye in.
Marnus Labuschagne was under heavy scrutiny heading into the pink-ball Test after managing scores of 2 and 3 in Perth. The right-hander toughened up in tricky conditions to score a gritty 64. which went a long way in setting up a 157-run lead for Australia.
Speaking to The Herald Sun, he opined:
“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.”
In his previous 10 Test appearances, Marnus Labuschagne has fallen in the 60s four times, only exceeding that tally once, during Australia’s Test against New Zealand in Christchurch in March, where he hit 90 runs.
Questions have also been put towards Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja, who have also struggled to score for Australia. Smith’s Test average sits at 23.2 while Khawaja’s is currently 25.66. Both of those averages are lower than Labuschagne’s 28.09 – yet Warner did not express any doubts over their form.
Steve Smith, who returned to No.4 after opening in the last two series, last made a half-century against the West Indies in Brisbane earlier this year. Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja’s last fifty-plus score also came in the same game.
David Warner reflected on Steve Smith’s and Usman Khawaja’s struggling form in ongoing BGT 2024-25
Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith have struggled in both Tests with top scores of 13 and 17, respectively. Warner acknowledged that the leg-side trap has worked against Smith, but he believes one knock is all the former captain needs to return to form.
“Steve of late, I think a lot of teams have been bowling at his pads and down leg side. So I think from that perspective they’re trying to shut his scoring down quite a bit. You see he’s trying to tinker with fixing certain things with Bumrah. His feet weren’t moving across this time. We know what Steve’s like, one knock and then he’s there,” he said.
Reflecting on Khawaja’s string of low scores, the 38-year-old stated:
“Uz, exactly the same. He’s had a great 12 months before. But then of late he hasn’t scored as many runs as he would have liked, but same thing, you’ve just got to go out there and still present the same attitude, the same at training, keep working hard.”
Australia levelled the series with a fine performance in Adelaide. Travis Head produced a Player of the Match-winning performance as he scored a belligerent 140 off 141 balls. Australian fast bowlers too played a key role in the victory as they picked up all the 20 Indian wickets. With the series tied at 1-1, the two sides will resume their rivalry in Brisbane in the third Test, starting December 14.