On Sunday, January 12, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officially announced the strong squad for the Afghanistan national cricket team for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Team Afghanistan will participate in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy after their remarkable 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 has been left out of the Afghanistan national team.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board’s national selection committee on Sunday announced the squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which will play at four venues in Dubai and Pakistan from February 19 to March 9.
Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the team in the eight-team competition and Rahmat Shah will be his deputy. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil will be the team’s two wicket-keeper batsmen, while star batsman Ibrahim Zadran returns after missing due to an ankle injury.
Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib are also in the team along with superstar spinners Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar and Noor Ahmad.
However, Mujib ur Rahman was not included in the 15-man list. The spinner has been ruled out as he is yet to fully recover from the injury and has been advised by doctors to focus on T20s before returning to ODIs. Additionally, Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami have been maintained as protected areas.
Afghanistan Atalan have performed very well in the last two ICC events – ACB President
In an official statement issued by the Board of Directors, ACB Chairman, Mr. Mirwais Ashraf said he was confident the team would perform well in the major tournament after their success in the last two ICC events.
Mirwais also said that he was delighted to appoint legendary Pakistan batsman Younis Khan as the team’s mentor and looked forward to the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led team making the most of his expertise. He elaborated:
“Afghanistan Atalan have performed very well in the last two ICC events – CWC23 and ICC World T20 2024. Their impressive performances in these two events, along with their ODI series win last year, will undoubtedly boost their morale and lead to a better campaign. This time we will help you provide it.”
“The appointment of mentors has proven to be quite beneficial for us in both our last two events. Building on this success, we have appointed Mr Younis Khan, who has extensive international and local experience, and look forward to making the most of his expertise at this event.”
In the same media report, ACB interim chief selector Ahmad Suliman Khil spoke about the absence of spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and added that the Afghans are used to playing in the conditions that will be available in Pakistan and UAE. He added that he has very high expectations for the Afghanistan national team and hopes the players will perform well.
“Mujeeb Ur Rahman was not available for selection as he had been advised by doctors to focus on T20s for some time to ensure full recovery before returning to ODIs. “This is why he did not participate in the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe,” he said.
“The situation in Pakistan is similar to the situation in Afghanistan or the UAE, where we mainly play. We will conduct several stages of preparatory camps before embarking on the journey to the big event. “I have high expectations,” he said. “I hope we prepare well and achieve good results like we did in the last two World Cups.”
Afghanistan’s 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is as follows:
Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah (VC), Ramanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Aliqeel (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 pool: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami.
