Legendary Australian captain Steve Waugh advised Marnus Labuschagne to cherish his ODI cap like his baggy green as the latter made his 50-over debut for Australia on Tuesday (January 14).

Waugh presented Labuschagne with his maiden ODI cap before Australia’s series opener against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

“The baggy green, you know how much that means to me. It’s special. But so is this cap,” the two-time World Cup winner told Labuschagne in a cricket.com.au presentation.

“I played a lot of cricket and at the end of every series people used to throw them away and give them away. Shirts and caps.

“I used to think one-day cricket has to mean more than that.

“It’s something special, it’s the same as playing for Australia in Test cricket.

“I wanted the numbers on the cap so the guys will keep their cap and guys will know their place in history.”

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Labuschagne became the 229th player to represent Australia in One-Day Internationals. He has dominated Test cricket ever since replacing Steve Smith as a concussion substitute at Lord's during the Ashes last year.

The 25-year-old recently moved to the career-best third place in ICC Test batting rankings. He smashed 215 and 59 in the two innings of the third Test against New Zealand in Sydney to occupy the third spot.

Labuschagne was the highest scorer in the three-Test series against New Zealand with 549 runs, while he had amassed 347 runs in the preceding home series against Pakistan from two Tests.