Labuschagne great thinker of the game, he'd be good leader: Paine
Jun 14, 2021
Melbourne [Australia], June 14 : Australia Test skipper Tim Paine on Monday said top-order batsman Marnus Labuschagne would become a great leader as he has a great cricket brain.
After Australia's defeat at the hands of India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year, there has been criticism of Paine's captaincy and there have been talks of either Pat Cummins or Steve Smith taking over the leadership in the longest format.
"I think he'd be a good leader. Marnus is a great thinker of the game. He's a good team man, he's got so much enthusiasm for his team and the game. With Marnus it's about him evolving into leading more, and being more of a leader. He's come into our group and been a really infectious, energetic guy which has been fantastic for our team, but I think in terms of our cricket team improving and Marnus evolving, I think in the next couple of years we'll definitely see him take the step up," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.
"He's got leadership in him, there's no doubt about that -- the way he goes about it, the way he treats people, the way he works on his game ... with some time (he) will become an excellent leader for this squad. He's got some real natural leadership ability and if that's harnessed and helped, I think he'll be a great captain," he added.
In January 2020, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting also identified Marnus as a potential captain of the Australian cricket team.
"He will come into the conversation in 12-18 months' time, once he's properly established himself in the team. He seems like the right sort of guy to maybe be a captain down the track at some point," said Ponting.
Australia will next square off against West Indies in three ODIs and five T20Is. Labuschagne is not a part of Australia's squad for the limited-overs series.
