As Australia gear up for a crucial encounter against Afghanistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy, star batsman Marnus Labuschagne has expressed confidence that his team is ready to secure a victory. With the match being a must-win for Australia to progress into the semis, Marnus emphasised that the team is fully focused and prepared for the challenge that Afghanistan present. Reflecting on past encounter, Marnus recalled their ODI World Cup 2023 clash against Afghanistan, where the team faced a stern challenge.
"If we're batting, we'll be looking to combat their spin through the middle, which has been their really strong point. Their pace bowling has been very good in the last few games, Noor Ahmed started really well, they finished off the game really well last night,” Labuschagne said during the press conference on Thursday.
"Going into their batting, we saw that they've got batters last time we played Afghanistan as well, their top order, they got 300 (in fact 291) and Maxwell played that amazing innings and got us over the line."
Labuschagne was quick to highlight that they will not be underestimating their opponents when asked whether Afghanistan are underdogs or not.
“Look, I’m not a pundit or someone who deems that they are underdogs or not. We know how good they are, we know the skill level that they play with. But we're going to make sure we come really well prepared and put a really good performance together."