On Sunday, January 12, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officially announced a strong Afghanistan National Cricket Team squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Team Afghanistan will make it to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on the back of their sensational performances in the last two ICC tournaments – ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
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Mujeeb Ur Rahman left out of Afghanistan squad
On Sunday, the National Selection Committee of the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which will be played from February 19 to March 9 at four venues in Dubai and Pakistan.
Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the team in the 8-team competition and Rahmat Shah will be his deputy. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil will be the team’s two wicketkeeper-batsmen, and star batsman Ibrahim Zadran, who was out of action due to an ankle injury, has returned.
Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib are also present in the team, along with superstar Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar and Noor Ahmad.
However, Mujeeb Ur Rahman has not been included in the 15-man squad. The spinner was ruled out as he is yet to fully recover from his injury and was advised by his doctor to focus on the T20s before returning to the ODIs. Also, Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami have been kept in reserves.
Afghan Afghans have performed exceptionally well in the last two ICC events: ACB president
In an official statement issued by the board of directors, ACB President Mr. Mirwais Ashraf stated that they are confident that the team will perform well in the premier tournament after their success in the last two ICC events.
Mirwais was also delighted with the appointment of legendary Pakistan batsman Younis Khan as the team’s mentor and stated that the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led team would be looking forward to making the most of his experience. He elaborated:
“AfghanAtalan has performed exceptionally well in the last two ICC events, the CWC23 and the ICC World T20 2024. His impressive performances in these two events, coupled with his ODI series wins last year, will certainly boost his morale. and will help them run an even better campaign this time.”
“The appointment of mentors has been very beneficial for us in the last two events. Given this success, we have appointed Mr. Younis Khan, who has extensive local and international experience, and we look forward to making the most of his experience during the event.”
In the same press release, ACB acting chief selector Ahmad Suliman Khil spoke about the absence of player Mujeeb Ur Rahman and added that the Afghans are used to playing in the conditions that will be offered in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates . He added that they have high expectations from the Afghanistan team and expect the players to put up brilliant performances.
“Mujeeb Ur Rahman was not available for selection as his doctor advised him to concentrate on the T20s for a while to ensure his full recovery before returning to the ODIs. “That was also the reason why he missed the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe.”
“The conditions in Pakistan are similar to those in Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, where we regularly play. We will conduct a multi-phase preparation camp before embarking on our journey to the big event. Expectations are high and I hope the team prepares well and puts in excellent performances, just as it did in the last two World Cups,” he said.
Here is Afghanistan’s 15-man squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik.
Reserve group: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami
