Marnus Labuschagne wants to emulate all-format consistency of Virat Kohli and rest of Fab 4
After having a fantastic 2019 scoring more than 1100 runs, Marnus Labuschagne received his maiden ODI call-up for the Australian squad that will tour India for a three-match ODI series that will begin on January 14. Labuschagne has had a fantastic start to 2020 scoring his maiden Test double-hundred against New Zealand. He is hopeful of carrying his form in white-ball cricket and becoming as consistent as modern-day greats like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.
"You look at the guys I look up to and aspire to - Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root. They've been doing it for a very long time, five, six years they've been consistent, not just in one format, but two or more formats," Labuschagne was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
"So for me personally there's a lot to learn and a lot to grow because I've had some success this summer but the real challenge for me is to be more consistent going on and being able to keep putting continued performances on the board," he added.
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Longevity and consistency are the things that Labuschagne wanted to strive for in the future and believed that the ODI series against India would be an ideal opportunity to showcase that.
"If I can continue to do that, then that's obviously going to be the challenge for me, and getting an opportunity in this one-day series is an opportunity for me to show a slightly different part of my game that we haven't seen this summer, but that's a really exciting challenge too," Labuschagne stated.
Labuschagne gave an example of the kind of player Michael Hussey was during his playing days for Australia. Hussey used to bat anywhere depending on the requirement of the team and had a reputation to finish off games for Australia and that is exactly what Labuschagne aspired to become.
"With the opportunities that might come in the next few months, we'll have to see, but definitely Michael Hussey is a great person to learn from," Labuschagne said.
"The way he played the one-day game, the way he finished off the innings and the way he probably started his innings. There are a few similarities there, but I'm definitely not comparing myself to Michael Hussey. My job is to just enjoy these next couple of weeks and then we'll go from there," he concluded.