Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has hit back at former teammate David Warner, who criticised him for his dismissal in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide last week. Marnus, who had twin failures in the series-opener in Perth, returned to form with a well-crafted 62 in the first innings in Adelaide. He did not get the chance to bat the second time as Australia chased down a low-total with 10 wickets to spare. Despite Labuschagne silencing his critics, Warner was still not convinced whether his former teammate is indeed back to his best.

Warner highlighted that Labuschagne keeps getting caught at gully whenever he gets to his fifty due to “lack of awareness”.

“I’m still not convinced with Marnus. I don’t think that was anywhere near what we know he’s capable of. 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,” Warner said on Fox Sports.

However, Labuschagne has responded to his former teammate’s criticism of him, saying that Warner needs to “check” the stats properly.

“I’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,” he added.

Meanwhile, the five-match series is finely poised at 1-1 after the visitors won the first game in Perth by 295 runs before crumbling to a 10-wicket defeat with the pink ball in Adelaide.

The third Test kicks off on Saturday at the Gabba, which used to be a fortress for Australia, who were unbeaten there since 1988 until India finally breached it in 2021 to clinch their four-Test series 2-1.

(With AFP Inputs)