Marnus Labuschagne wants to imitate Joe Root's success in the subcontinent

Joe Root is having the purplest of patches a batter can ever produce. Scoring 2,416 runs since the start of 2020, he has truly cemented himself as one of the greatest in the modern era of red-ball cricket without any questions.

Despite being a sensation for Australia in red ball, Marnus Labuschagne is yet to prove himself against spinners in alien conditions (Asian subcontinent). The right-hander, who is due to play a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka later this month, has his eyes set on imitating Root's batting discipline in the subcontinent.

Speaking to BBC Sport Wales, Labuschagne opened up about his plans for Australia's tour of the Emerald nation.

"For me, it's my first real subcontinent challenge against spin; it's about conquering that challenge. Joe Root played phenomenally over there; I've learned a lot from how he went about his game there.

As a team, we want to be the best in the world; it doesn't matter where you take us, we want to be winning games, and I certainly think we can do that in Sri Lanka. I'll have to get used to conditions, the heat and sweating it out, which is something we haven't had the last few games [in the UK]," the 27-year-old explained.

Root, who scored a match-winning 115 against New Zealand at Lord's last evening, scored 794 runs in 6 Tests in Asia (in Sri Lanka and India) last year. The former English captain scored 228 and 186 against the Lankan Lions.

Wherein Labuschagne, who has played just 3 Tests in Asia (in Pakistan), managed only 170 runs in the 3-match series against Pakistan in March.

In his 26-Test match career, the South African-born has been dismissed 12 times against spinners.

With Australia playing 16 Tests this season, Labuschagne's form with the bat will be crucial as they have matches stacked up against South Africa and West Indies at home. 

Australia is due to play four-Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 in India.