World Cup 2023: This is the beginning, not the end, remarks Australia's Marnus Labuschagne

Batter Marnus Labuschagne has backed the Australian side to brush aside the dismal start they had suffered in the World Cup 2023 courtesy of two defeats in the first two fixtures of the tournament.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Australia, who were considered to be title contenders before the start of the World Cup 2023, are facing a crisis situation at the moment as they suffered a defeat against India and South Africa in the competition. Aussies are the most successful side in the tournament's history but they are now placed at the ninth position in the points table with a net run rate of -1.846. The team now needs to win at least six of their remaining seven games to make it to the semifinals. However, their batter Marnus Labuschagne has stated that the Australian side will brush aside the poor start in the tournament.

"I don't know how the points system works but we're going to need to win every game from here I assume or at least very, very close to get into that four," Labuschagne told reporters at the post-match press conference after the defeat to South Africa.

"But once again, it's the reason Australia has won the World Cup five times because we play well under pressure and we haven't started well, but this is the beginning, not the end," he quipped.

In the game against India, Mitchell Marsh dropped star batter Virat Kohli's catch and that turned out to be decisive as the Rohit Sharma-led side went on to win the game. Marnus Labuschagne backed the team after the defeat saying they will have to do better in the upcoming games.

"It's hard to put your finger on it. I mean, we're one of the best fielding sides in the world - we pride ourselves on that and, you know, we just didn't seem to get it right. We certainly have played a lot but I'm not here to sit and make excuses. We're playing the World Cup for Australia. We have to be ready; we have to be better than that," he concluded.