# Sports

Marnus Labuschagne aspires to be like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith

Labuschagne was declared Player of the Series against New Zealand as he was the highest run-getter — 549 runs in 3 matches — in the series that the Aussies won 3-0.

SNS | New Delhi | January 10, 2020 12:32 pm

Marnus Labuschagne aspires to be like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith

World number 3 Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne wants to be a player like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, who are consistent with their performances even while playing multiple formats.

“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 told ESPNcricinfo as quoted by IANS.

Labuschagne was declared Player of the Series against New Zealand as he was the highest run-getter — 549 runs in 3 matches — in the series that the Aussies won 3-0. The right-handed batsman, with 347 runs in the Test series against Pakistan, was the second-highest run-getter in the series as well.

“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,” said Labuschagne.

The 25-year-old rocketed up to third in the ICC Test batting rankings on the back of an Australian record 896 runs across five Test matches at home this summer. He is more likely to make his ODI debut in the upcoming three-match series against India starting January 14.

“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,” said the right-handed batsman.