Dark-horses Afghanistan can throw a spanner in the fireworks of several heavyweight teams in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Hashmatullah Shahidi and co. always have a tendency of punching above their weight in ICC events and can prove to be too hot to handle in the upcoming event.
Afghanistan are in red-hot form in international cricket and completed a three-format victory against Zimbabwe in their previous international assignment. They also defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in a 3-match ODI series in November 2024.
Afghanistan opens their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against South Africa on 21st February 2025 in Karachi. They would be looking to outclass the opposition in their maiden game.
In this article, we take a look at the strongest playing XI of Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Openers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran
Rahmanullah Gurbaz amassed 117 runs in 2 games and scored a century against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Warm-up games. He would be oozing with confidence ahead of this tournament.
The young Ibrahim Zadran has played 33 ODIs so far for Afghanistan and has scored 1440 runs at an average of 48.00.
Top-Order: Hashmatullah Shahidi, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah
Afghanistan have a strong top-order and have a good blend of experience and youth. The experience of Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah will come-in handy during crunch situations.
Sediqullah Atal has had a good start to his ODI career and has scored 230 runs in 5 innings at a good average of 46.00. Atal scored 52 runs in the warm-up game against the Kiwis. The 23-year-old cricketer from Logar also top-scored in the ODI series versus Zimbabwe, scoring 156 runs in 2 innings,
Middle-Order: Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Naib, Gulbadin Naib
Afghanistan have a lot of firepower in the middle-order with the likes of Mohammad Naib, Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai providing a lot of depth and balance to the side.
All these cricketers have plied their trade for several T20 franchises across the globe and would be in the spotlight in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad and Naveed Zadran
The bowling department of Afghanistan looks stupendous and has some quality spinners and pacers. Rashid Khan will be the cynosure of all eyes in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the likes of Fazalhaq Farooqi and Noor Ahmad have been effective in slow and tricky conditions.
Naveed Zadran has taken 3 wickets in 4 games so far in ODIs and will be a key bowler to watch out for.
Strongest Playing XI of Afghanistan in ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Sediqullah Atal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad. Naveed Zadran and Fazalhaq Farooqi
