Making their historic debut at the tournament, the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led Afghan side included their star opener Ibrahim Zadran in the team but spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was snubbed. Ibrahim Zadran has been named in Afghanistan’s squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy, having recovered from an ankle injury which had kept him out of international action since June 2024. Hashmatullah Shahidi will continue to captain the ODI side, with Rahmat Shah as his deputy.
Prolific top-order batter, Ibrahim Zadran, who was away from action due to an ankle injury, has returned to the squad. He will accompany swashbuckling Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top of the batting followed by the likes of Rahmat Shah and skipper Shahidi, making up for a strong top-four pairing. Afghanistan announced their squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday, January 12.
Ibrahim Zadran returns to 15 man Afghanistan squad for Champions Trophy 2025
The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the national team’s 15-man squad that is set to take part in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to begin from February 19 to March 09 in Pakistan and UAE. The side’s prolific top-order batter, Ibrahim Zadran, makes his return to the side after being out of action due to an ankle injury. Sediqullah Atal, who had an impressive ODI series against Zimbabwe, has also cut the upcoming campaign.
Ibrahim Zadran last played international cricket in March 2024 and recently returned to action after recovering from his ankle injury. Mujeeb’s exclusion came as a surprise as he boasts impressive numbers in ODIs and recently made an impressive return to T20Is against Zimbabwe last month.
Ibrahim Zadran will accompany swashbuckling Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top batting order while Rahmat Shah and skipper Shahidi will take up a strong top-four. Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the national side for the coming campaign, and Rahmat Shah has been named his deputy as well. For the wicketkeeping options, the star opening batter, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, will be their first-choice gloveman, with Ikram Alikhil as his backup.
As expected, Rashid Khan has been included in the squad, and his all-round abilities will be decisive in the side’s chances of going far in the tournament. In order to bolster the spin attack, they have also included the mystery spinner, Allah Ghazanfar, in the squad along with Noor Ahmad to form a leg-spin trio.. The spin attack will be led by leg-spinner Rashid Khan while the all-rounder Mohammad Nabi provides additional depth while Fazalhaq Farooqi spearheads the pace attack.
In the fast-bowling unit, Fazalhaq Farooqi, who had a stellar T20 World Cup 2024, will lead the pace attack along with the likes of Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai as well.
A big name that has been dropped from the squad is Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, the mystery spinner who has not been included in the squad. According to the ACB’s interim chief selector, the bowler has yet to fully recover from his injuries and has been advised to play only T20Is for the time being.
Mujeeb’s exclusion came as a surprise as he boasts impressive numbers in ODIs and recently made an impressive return to T20Is against Zimbabwe last month.
ACB chief explains exclusion of Mujeeb Ur Rehman for the marquee tournament
One notable omission from the squad is Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, a crucial player who was an integral part of Afghanistan’s team during the Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023.
“AfghanAtalan have performed exceptionally well in the past two ICC events, the CWC23 and the ICC World T20 2024,” ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf stated.
“Their impressive performances in these two events coupled with their ODI series victories last year will undoubtedly boost their morale and help them deliver an even better campaign this time.
“The appointment of mentors has proven to be quite beneficial for us in both of the last two events. Given this success, we have appointed Younis Khan, who has extensive international and local experience, and we look forward to making full use of his expertise during the event.”
“Mujeeb Ur Rahman was not available for the selection as he has been advised by his doctor to focus on T20s for a while to ensure his full recovery before returning to ODIs,” ACB Interim Chief Selector Mr. Ahmad Suliman Khil said.
“That was also the reason he missed on the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe.”
Afghanistan’s squad includes 10 players who featured in their 2023 World Cup campaign. The exclusions, apart from Mujeeb, are Naveen-ul-Haq, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Rahman, Najibullah Zadran. Meanwhile, Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami are the reserves Afghanistan have named for the eight-team tournament.
Afghanistan’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025
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.
Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti and Bilal Sami.
The squad will undergo a preparatory camp, which will be divided into phases and held before their journey. They would also look to continue their impressive streak of performances as seen in the previous two ICC events.
Afghanistan are in Group B alongside Australia, England and South Africa and will play all their matches in Pakistan in the first round. Their opening game is against South Africa on February 21 in Karachi, followed by matches against England (February 26 in Lahore) and Australia (February 28 in Lahore).