I’m not sure if David Warner was serious or joking about the Test return: Marnus Labuschagne

With his recent announcement that he is prepared to don the whites once more for Australia in the next Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 2024–25, David Warner shocked the cricket community. Many people are confused by the southpaw’s posture, including his former teammate Marnus Labuschagne.

Earlier this year, Warner played against Pakistan in Sydney before retiring from the longest format of the game. In the months that followed, he declared his retirement from competitive cricket in all other formats. He has, however, recently indicated that he is eager to return from retirement and even play in the Sheffield Shield in order to demonstrate that he is prepared for the demands of red-ball cricket. With Steve Smith returning to No. 4, Australia is now searching for an opener.

“Just pick up the phone; I’m always accessible. I’m always quite serious. Since the boys haven’t played a red ball game since their February Test matches, let’s face it,

I’ve essentially had the same amount of preparation,” David Warner told Code Sports.

“I’m more than willing to play the upcoming Shield game and go out there and play if they needed me for this series. I did retire because I wanted to finish the game and for the right reasons. My hand is up, though, if they are in dire need of someone. He went on, “I won’t be afraid of it.

Labuschagne, however, stated that he is unsure whether the 37-year-old was making a joke or taking the Test comeback quite seriously.

“I am uncertain as to whether he was being serious or humorous. It’s always difficult to tell. That’s hard for me to interpret,” Labuschagne remarked.

At number four, Steve Smith is a rather easy fix: Marnus Labuschagne remarked that Smith’s return to No. 4

in the batting order was a fairly easy fix, considering the former Australia captain’s outstanding performance there and Cameron Green’s exclusion.

The solution is rather straightforward: one of Australia’s top players bats in the position where he has had the greatest success. Summertime availability for Cameron Green is unavailable. As of right now, our squad has no one hitting at number four. Labuschagne asked, “Why not have the player who has performed the best for Australia bat in that position?”

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Since their victory in 2017, India has become the current holder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India will begin defending the trophy on November 22 and Australia will attempt to recapture it.