IND vs AUS: Marnus Labuschagne hits back at David Warner's comments

Under-fire Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has hit back at his former teammate-turned-commentator David Warner for criticising his batting, saying, "everyone's here to write newspapers, write articles."  Labuschagne has been struggling with his form for quite some time but seems to have found some rhythm with a resolute 64 in the pink-ball Test, which helped Australia beat India by 10 wickets and level the five-match series in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.  Check India vs Australia 3rd Test Day 1 LIVE SCORE, ONLINE SCORECARD, MATCH UPDATES here

Former opener Warner was unimpressed with Labuschagne's performance and claimed that he had a "lack of awareness" after being dismissed caught in the gully.

 

Responding to Warner's comments, Labuschagne told News Corp that he'd "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."  Warner had earlier told 'Fox Cricket' that he was "not convinced" by Labuschagne's performance.

"I don't think that was anywhere near what we know he's capable of," Warner had said.

"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 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."  Labuschagne, who was dismissed for 2 and 3 in the two innings at Perth, hasn't scored a Test century since last year's Ashes series.

"I'm watching the game, and I'm trying to play pretty naturally," the 30-year-old said.

"I mean, hitting a cut shot, the ball was there. It was a little bit short, and I tried to hit the ball through backward point, skidded on a little bit more, and I got a bit late, and (Yashasvi Jaiswal) took a very good catch. 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 at the end of the day, I'm not here to please everyone. I'm here to win games for Australia."  Labuschagne said he is focused on winning matches for Australia, not on convincing anyone about his return to form.

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. And when I get that opportunity again, and get myself in, I'll make sure to convert it into a big score," he said.

(I was a) little bit disappointed getting out at the stage I did last week, but that's part of the game. And the benefit is that it was able to set up for someone else to take advantage of that, which is good.

The third Test begins here on Saturday.