Australia’s middle-order batter Marnus Labuschagne has expressed his eagerness to quiet the crowd, which is expected to strongly back Afghanistan in their Champions Trophy 2025 clash on Friday at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. The right-hander also emphasized his goal of helping Australia secure the top spot in their group.
Afghanistan enters the match with momentum after a thrilling victory over England at the same venue. The upcoming clash against Australia serves as a virtual quarter-final, with the winner advancing to the semi-finals.
While the two-time champions dominated England in their previous game, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s side presents a significant challenge, particularly due to their diverse bowling attack. Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of the crucial encounter, Labuschagne said, as quoted by ‘Perth Now’:
“As players, you always want to play. Obviously, if the whole match rains out, that means that we go through to the semi-finals. But we’d love to be able to win the game tomorrow and finish top in the pool.”
“That’s something we want to aim to do and make sure we’ve won all our matches leading up to the semi-finals. But those things are out of our control, so I will have to make sure we’re ready to go tomorrow if it is a shortened fixture.”
“No Issues Playing Tomorrow” – Labuschagne on AUS vs AFG Clash
As Cricket Australia continues to boycott bilateral series against Afghanistan over human rights concerns under Taliban rule, Marnus Labuschagne stated that he has no objections to playing since it is an ICC event. He further added:
“Yeah, interesting question. Obviously, it’s an ICC tournament and our game, as the schedule came out, we’re playing Afghanistan. Personally, I’ve got no issues about playing tomorrow. But, obviously, there has been some stances from us at Cricket Australia in the past. But we’re just focusing on tomorrow where we are playing Afghanistan.”
With rain expected in Lahore, Steve Smith and his team will advance to the semi-finals if the match gets washed out. They already have three points, as their game against South Africa was also abandoned due to rain.
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