Marnus Labuschagne sets sight on 2021 T20 World Cup despite lack of experience
Despite not playing a single T20I in his career, Marnus Labuschagne has expressed his desire to play in the 2021 T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India in October-November this year.
The Australian cricketer, currently playing for Glamorgan in the English County season, isn’t a part of the national side’s limited-overs tour to West Indies due to logistical reasons compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though Labuschagne has played only 16 T20 matches in his career, he has had a good start to his ODI career, scoring a century and three fifties in just 12 innings.
Labuschagne will play a key role for Glamorgan in the T20 Blast 200. He believes that playing in the T20 World Cup is a realistic goal from his perspective but isn’t sure what selectors have in mind.
“With Covid, the amount of quarantine that is needed for me to play in those games is almost 38 days,” Labuschagne was quoted by The Times.
“Any time you can’t go to play for Australia is a very disappointing time, but the silver lining is that I get to play most of the T20 comp here and almost double the amount of T20s I have played in my career. I’ve played 16 before and I will play 14 here (in England)," he said.
“I would love to be playing in the World Cup in a few months. I don’t know if it is a realistic goal from the selectors, but it is a realistic goal from my perspective,” said the Aussie star.
Marnus Labuschagne will be a superstar in all three formats: Justin Langer
Former opener and coach Justin Langer earlier called Marnus Labuschagne a potential three-format superstar. Speaking to Fox Cricket’s Road to Ashes Podcast, Langer stated:
“That’s why I think Marnus Labuschagne is such a breath of fresh air, and I am absolutely certain he will be able to play all three forms of the game. He will be a superstar in all three forms of the game because he’s got such a great base of technique.”
A good T20 season in England may help the 26-year-old cricketer’s case to be picked for Australia’s T20I tour of Bangladesh ahead of the World Cup.
A prolific accumulator of runs, Labuschagne’s leg-spin option and superlative fielding skills may come in handy in the shortest format of the game. In the 16 T20 matches he has played, he has only 273 runs at 19.5, striking at less than 114. He is yet to score a fifty in the format and has found more success with the ball, claiming 11 wickets at an average of 20.63.