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On Sunday, January 12, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officially announced the lineup of the Afghanistan national cricket team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Afghanistan will win the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy due to their outstanding performance in the past two ICC tournaments (2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup).
Mujibur Ur Rahman left out of Afghanistan squad
The Afghanistan Cricket Board’s national selection committee on Sunday announced the squad for the upcoming International Cricket Federation Champions Trophy, which will be played at four venues in Dubai and Pakistan from February 19 to March 9.
Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the team in the 8-team competition and Rahmat Shah will serve as deputy. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Ali Qil will be the two wicketkeeper-batsmen in the team, with star batsman Ibrahim Zadran missing the game due to an ankle injury Has also made a comeback.
Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib also feature in the team, along with superstar spinners Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar and Noor Ahmad.
However, Mujibur Ur Rahman was not selected in the 15-man squad. The spinner has been ruled out as he has not fully recovered from his injury and his doctors have advised him to focus on T20 training before returning to ODIs. Additionally, Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami have also been retained in the reserves.
AfghanAtalan performed exceptionally well in the past two ICC events – ACB Chairman
In an official statement issued by the Board of Directors, ACB Chairman Mr. Mirwais Ashraf said that following the success in the past two ICC events, they are confident of the team’s strong performance in the major tournament.
Mirwais was also delighted with the appointment of legendary Pakistan batsman Younis Khan as the team’s mentor and said the Hashmathullah Shahidi-led team will look forward to making full use of his expertise. He elaborated:
“Afghanistan Atalan has performed well in the past two ICC tournaments, CWC23 and ICC World T20 2024. Their outstanding performance in these two tournaments, coupled with last year’s ODI series victory, will undoubtedly boost their morale and help them play better. Good record this time.”
“The appointment of mentors has proven to be very beneficial to us over the past two events. Given this success, we have appointed Mr. Younis Khan, who has extensive international and local experience and we look forward to leveraging him during the event expertise.”
In the same media release, ACB interim chief selector Mr. Ahmad Suliman Khil spoke about the absence of spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and added that Afghans are used to playing in the conditions provided by Pakistan and UAE. He added that they have high expectations for the Afghan team and hope the players can put in a good performance.
“Mujeeb Ur Rahman was unavailable for selection as his doctors advised him to focus on T20s for a while first to ensure his complete recovery before returning to ODIs. This was also the reason why he missed the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe.”
“The situation in Pakistan is similar to Afghanistan and the UAE, where we often play. We will have preparation camps in multiple stages before embarking on the big tournament tour. The expectations are high and I hope the team can prepare well and do well. Just like they did in the last two World Cups.”
Here is Afghanistan’s 15-man squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Lineup: Hashmathullah Shahidi (center), Rahmat Shah (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Ali Qil (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Attar, Azma Tullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Gazanfar, Noor Ahmed, Fazal Haq Far Ruch, Naveed Zadran, and Farid Ahmed Malik.
Reserve Pool: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami
