Champions Trophy 2025: Labuschagne opens up on Afghanistan challenge

Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has revealed the side’s plan against Afghanistan’s bowling in the hotly-anticipated AUS v AFG clash of the Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore on Friday.

The two sides are set to face off in their final group match later today to book a spot in the semi-finals.

Ahead of the AUS v AFG game, Labuschagne said that Australia will focus on tackling Afghanistan spinners in the middle overs.

“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,” he said.

The right-handed batter also identified the risks posed by Afghanistan batters in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025.

“Going into their batting, we saw that they’ve got batters last time we played Afghanistan as well, their top order, they got 300 [actually 291] and Maxwell played that amazing innings and got us over the line,” Marnus Labuschagne said.

The Australia batter dismissed that Afghanistan were underdogs in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025, saying, “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.”

Marnus Labuschagne revealed that weather forecasts have not changed how the team prepared for the AUS v AFG game.

“Most of our preparation came before the tournament. We’ve had a training rain-out and then the game rain-out against South Africa, and our training now is indoors. The boys have played a lot, we’re ready to go. When you come to these tournaments you have to be prepared to play,” he said.