India vs Australia | Cricket Australia call up Marnus Labuschagne for Sydney Test

After losing the third Test match in Melbourne, the Australian team management has decided to bring in Queensland all-rounder Labuschagne into the squad for the last and must-win encounter. The right-handed batsman and leg-spinner is expected to come in handy for the hosts at the SCG which traditionally has assisted the spinners. Australia had already declared a 13-man squad for the last two Test matches but now they have roped in the all-rounder for the last game.

“We’ll get up to Sydney and have a look at the conditions,” skipper Tim Paine said confirming Labuschagne’s inclusion, reported Cricket Australia. 

"From what we’re hearing, it’ll probably spin quite a bit so once we see that for ourselves, we’ll start to think about the best combination for ourselves to win that Test. We think we’ve got the best group of players available to us at the moment and we’ll pick the best combination for that group that we think will win the last Test,” he said.

Labuschagne made his debut against Pakistan earlier in October this year in the UAE and played a couple of Test matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi but was kept out of the side for the first three against the Indians. He has amassed 81 runs so far in his Test career while with the ball he claimed seven wickets in the four innings that he bowled in the two matches of that tour. 

Playing first-class cricket for Queensland, the 24-year-old struck two fifties in Sheffield Shield matches after his Test debut. He averages more than 33 with the bat and has picked up 24 wickets from 43 first-class games in his career so far.