David Warner says Marnus Labuschagne’s ‘lack of awarness’ has him unconvinced of form reversal

Marnus Labuschagne was hailed for a knock which ‘saved his career’ in Adelaide, but his former teammate David Warner isn’t convinced the worm has turned for Australia’s No.3.

David Warner is not convinced Marnus Labuschagne is back to his best despite his half-century in Adelaide.

Former Test opener Warner has called into question his ex-teammate’s match awareness and played down the quality of India’s bowling during the second Test.

Labuschagne entered the match at the weekend under the most public scrutiny of any player in the Australian XI following scores of two and three in Perth, continuing a five-Test run where he was averaging 13.66.

But with his spot in the team appearing precarious, Labuschagne absorbed India’s challenge under lights on Friday night before gathering steam on Saturday, making 64 to pave the way for Travis Head to take the game away from the tourists.

But Warner still has reservations about whether Labuschagne has again found top gear.

In particular Warner – now a Fox Cricket expert – said the Queensland skipper’s decision to attack through the gully region, eventually leading to his downfall at the hands of Nitish Kumar Reddy – pointed to a broader issue around understanding the state of the match.

“I’m still not convinced with Marnus. I don’t think that was anywhere near what we know he’s capable of,” Warner told this masthead.

“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.”

In his past eight Tests, Labuschagne has reached 60 every time he has gone past 10, but has fallen in the 60s three times and been removed for 90 once.

Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner during the Ashes. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images.

But his Test batting average in 2024 (28.09) is superior to those of Usman Khawaja (25.66) and Steve Smith (23.20).

Yet Warner didn’t appear overly worried with the form of either veteran.

“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. But as we know, the best form of currency is runs so you’ve just got to try your best to churn them out,” Warner said.

“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.”

Warner has meanwhile dismissed concerns around the tourists’ showing at Adelaide Oval, arguing that pink-ball Tests are so different to their red-ball counterparts that they should have their own set of stats.

The spotlight is also on Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who made three and six in Adelaide as his Test average for the year slumped to 27.13.

Warner pointed to the fact that Australia is a much more seasoned side than the Indians when it comes to day-night Test cricket.

“It’s a pink ball game. When I look at pink ball, the ball swings, it’s completely different. It’s always one of those games that I’ve looked at on the calendar as, it should have its own stats. At the end of the day, not everyone plays pink ball.”