Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne in action against India in Sydney on Sunday.
Young Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne found his batting form on Sunday when he contributed with a 61-ball 70 against India in side's 51-run ODI series-clinching win in Sydney. However, with the unassailable lead, came the bad news of David Warner being ruled out of the remainder of the limited over series, which includes one ODI and three T20Is, due to a groin strain.
Labuschagne, who scored just two runs in the first game, exuded confidence after a strong individual showing in the second game and admitted that he is willing to open for the Aussies if he is asked to in Warner's absence.
“Certainly, if I got asked to open the batting, absolutely it’s an opportunity that I would enjoy doing. But we’ll have to wait and see," the 26-year-old right-handed batsman told media on Monday.
Australia were handed a severe blow soon after clinching the ODI series with back-to-back wins as David Warner and Pat Cummins were ruled out of the rest of the white-ball series against India, reported Sydney Morning Herald. Cricket Australia is hopeful that Warner will recuperate from his adductor muscle injury in less than three weeks time. D'Arcy Short has has been picked as his replacement in the T20 squad.
Australia's coach Justin Langer revealed that Warner will miss all the remaining white ball games due to groin strain while fast bowler Cummins has been rested as a short break for the Test series.
Warner's loss could do a lot of damage to the hosts as the 34-year-old southpaw scored 69 and 83 in his last two innings while building 100-plus opening stand with skipper Aaron Finch in both the games.
