Naturally, anyone that is batting No.3 for Australia is going to have responsibility: Marnus Labuschagne

One of Australia's most dependable batters in the longest format of the game Marnus Labuschagne is in readiness for the upcoming World Test Championship final against India at The Oval and the challenge to retain the Ashes over the course of the English summer. 

Alongside Steven Smith, it will be Labuschagne's responsibility to provide the Pat Cummins-led side with solidity in the batting order. In order to gear up well for the upcoming challenges on the English soil, Marnus decided to chance his technique and temprament in the ongoing County Championship Divison Two and signed up for Glamorgan. 

The decision seems to have bore fruit for the 28-year-old South Africa-born. While playing for Glamorgan in Divison Two, Marnus churned out plenty of runs that might augur well over the next few weeks. In five games played in the ongoing season, Marnus batted in eight innings and aggregated 502 runs at a staggering average of 71.71, including two centuries and two fifties.

His prolific outings for Glamorgan included an unbeaten knock of 170* against Yorkshire at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds. 

Cognizant of the challenges that come with shouldering the responsibility of batting at a pivotal position like no. three in Test cricket, Labuschagne knows that he needs to 'find ways' of scoring runs and contribute as much as he can in his capacity.

"Naturally, anyone that is batting No.3 for Australia is going to have responsibility," Labuschagne said as quoted by India Today.

"Even in 2019 (last time in England for Ashes) it was my responsibility, it was my job to score runs and if I didn't score runs they would find someone else to do my job and I don't think that changes.

"It is about finding ways to score runs and contribute to the side in as many games as I can."

The ace Australian batter also expressed his liking towards County cricket and mentioned that he loves to play at Glamorgan and it's his association with the team that brings him to play in the County Championship.

"I have been coming back for five years now," Labuschagne said.

"It is just part of my normal routine of coming here.

"I love coming here, I love playing County cricket, I love the team at Glamorgan, I enjoy it so much otherwise I wouldn't be coming back.

"It just helps that this year is a Test Championship Final and Ashes year so it is very helpful for leading into the series."

Having played against their World Test Championship final adversaries India just a few months ago on the latter's home turf, the right-handed Aussie knows what to expect from the Rohit Sharma-led pace attack come June 7 at The Oval.

"Two months ago we played against India, so in terms of seeing them and knowing their actions and what they do we are pretty clear on that," Labuschagne said.

"With the Dukes ball in their hand they are going to be able to showcase their skills a lot more."