Australia captain Aaron Finch expects an exciting contest between Jasprit Bumrah and Marnus Labuschagne during the three-match ODI tour of India.
“Yes that (contest) is going to be exciting. The improvement we have seen in Marcus’ game over the last 12 months has been huge and that has been reflected in his scores and the impact that he is having in Tests,” Finch said on Friday.
Exciting player
The in-form Labuschagne is set to make his ODI debut. The 25-year-old Labuschagne recently moved up to third spot in the ICC Test batsman rankings.
“He takes enough time to refresh and recharge his batteries, because playing here can be tough. He will be ready to go and no doubt. He is an exciting player, one who just keeps getting the job done all the time,” Finch said.
The Australia captain was also all praise for Bumrah — who returned to the Indian team for the T20I series against Sri Lanka after nearly six months.
“He (Bumrah) is obviously a fantastic bowler and someone who, when you are not playing against him, you love watching bowl. He is fast and aggressive and his execution is pretty spot-on. More and more guys face him, the more exposure you get, the more you start to understand how he bowls,” Finch said.
While the focus is on the Bumrah-Labuschagne battle, Australia’s senior assistant coach Andrew McDonald — who is in-charge of the team for the India series — is also looking forward to a good show by Josh Hazlewood, who is back in the side after an injury.
Shaping up well
McDonald said Hazlewood was shaping up well after the hamstring injury. He had played a couple of BBL games for Sydney Sixes and come through “really well”.
“If you look at Hazlewood’s ODI record over a period of time, it is outstanding. He comes back in and we have got some other quicks there…” the coach said.
