Afghanistan‘s cricket team is preparing for the 2025 Champions Trophy and many eyes will be on the team. The Afghanistan side is on a rise in recent years, having qualified for the semi-finals in the last year’s ICC T20 World Cup. Notably, Afghanistan will make their maiden appearance in the ODI event and the team would want to leave a significant mark.
The Afghanistan team has surely risen as a unit in the last decade and have suddenly become a force to reckon at the ICC events. In the last two ICC tournaments, the team played beyond their imagination and also reached the semis of the T20 World Cup 2024. Afghanistan have a well rounded squad and the selectors announced their Champions Trophy squad recently.
It won’t be an understatement to say that they have become an Asian powerhouse and have leapfrogged the likes of Bangladesh and Pakistan in ICC events. Every player knows their strengths and weaknesses and time and again they have shown their quality against top oppositions. The upcoming Champions Trophy will be another litmus Test for the Afghan boys who are placed in a tricky group.
SWOT Analysis of Afghanistan Cricket Team
Strengths :
They have a bunch of cricketers who have been playing together for a long time. Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah have seen and tamed many oppositions, including some traditional powerhouses.
They will also be playing in conditions closer to their home and it gives them a certain edge. Their march to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2024, is an underliner to their talent and confidence. In Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad and Allah Ghazanfar, the Afghan side probably has the best spin attack of the tournament.
All four spinners bring something different to the table and all the four are wicket-taking bowlers which makes them deadly. The spin attack comprises of Rashid and Nabi, two veterans of the game, and the attack also has young and exciting Noor and Ghazanfar, who are still a mystery for most of the teams. There will be conditions in Pakistan which will suit their bowling, and if the team plays a game in Dubai, then the spinners will be buzzing with excitement.
Afghanistan’s spin bowling remains a strength, even without Mujeeb Ur Rahman. ACB interim chief selector Ahmad Suliman Khil confirmed Rahman was advised by his doctor to focus on T20s for a while before returning to ODIs. The team still has four high-quality spinners: Rashid Khan, Allah Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmed, and Nabi each offering unique skills. They also have two excellent new-ball bowlers in Fazalhaq Farooqi and Omarzai who can swing the new ball both ways and take early wicket
With Rashid, Ghazanfar, Noor, and Nabi, they have four high-quality spinners, each offering a distinct skill set. And there’s a good chance that all four will play together, choking the opposition with their combined threat.
In Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai, Afghanistan also have two excellent new-ball bowlers who can swing the new-ball both ways and take wickets up front. Naib provides a third seam-bowling option, though he won’t be needed much. Should conditions require a proper third seamer, Afghanistan have the likes of Naveed Zadran and Farid Malik on the bench.
Ibrahim Zadran, who has been missing from the team due to an injury during practice, is now fit and will open the batting with Rahmanullah Gurbaz. These two openers have been highly consistent in the 50-over format though there have been a few questions over Zadran’s ability to generate quick runs. However, this isn’t viewed as a major concern as they prefer consistency over speed in their scoring rate. Moreover, both Zadran and Gurbaz average over 39 in ODIs.
Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are the two most reliable opening pair in the Champions Trophy 2025. Both the players know their strengths and compliment each other well.
Since 2020, the pair has scored the second most ODI runs as an opening pair (1514) in 31 innings, with the top spot occupying by India’s Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill (1732). If Afghanistan are to score a big total or chase down a target, this pair will be crucial and just like previous ICC tournaments, Gurbaz and Zadran will be eager to prove their class in Champions Trophy as well.
Weaknesses:
They are coming into the CT without proper ODI match practice as their last 50-over appearance was against Zimbabwe in December 2024. It may reflect in their outings here against superior opponents.
Two of the team’s most-important batters, particularly Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi, have been struggling with form. While Shahidi has been scoring at an average of 32.22 in ODIs since 2024, Shah’s average in this period is even more dismal (23.33), as per ESPNCricinfo. However, the duo boast plethora of experience and the team management would back them to shed their poor form.
Opportunity :
Afghanistan will play all their group matches in Karachi and Lahore, where spin has a vital role. The Afghans have a rich line of slow bowlers in Rashid, Mohammad Nabi and young tyros Noor Ahmad and Nangeyalia Kharote.
One of Afghanistan’s biggest strengths is their depth in batting and bowling, courtesy of a few three-dimensional players. The likes of Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, and Azmatullah Omarzai are proven performers at the highest level. Moreover, Omarzai, who won the ODI Player of the Year award in 2024, has been in great form, while veteran Nabi continues to deliver in the lower order.
One of their key strengths is the depth they possess in both departments, thanks to several multi-skilled players in the lineup. From No. 5 to No. 8, every player is capable of contributing with both bat and ball, which is an immense luxury. Azmatullah Omarzai, in fact, won the ODI Player of the Year award in 2024 and has been in outstanding form in this format. Veteran Nabi has also been contributing with fine performances in the lower order.
Overall, Afghanistan have made significant progress as a batting unit, with their dot-ball percentages and balls-per-boundary figures decreasing in recent years.
Threats :
Their middle-order batting of late has been dawdling, putting a lot of pressure on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to churn out runs consistently. They have been doing it for the last year or so, but they would certainly prefer some more help from the likes of Shahidi, Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai.
Teams often prefer chasing in Asian conditions as the due factor comes into play in the evening time. While most of the Afghanistan batters own brilliant records in the second innings, some of them have struggled in the first innings. As per ESPNCricinfo, veteran batters Shah and Shahidi average under 33 while batting first in ODIs since 2019. However, both Gurbaz and Zadran average 48-plus in this department.
Prediction :
Afghanistan’s players will collaborate with former Pakistan batter Younis Khan, who has been appointed as the team’s mentor for the Champions Trophy. This is the third consecutive global tournament where the ACB has selected a mentor from the host nation: Ajay Jadeja was brought in for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, and Dwayne Bravo served as the bowling consultant for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.
More than any player, more than the skillset, Afghanistan rely on their fighting spirit, something which has helped them in previous ICC tournaments.
In the World Cup 2023, they almost reached the semi-finals and were one of the best teams of the tournament. The team showed immense grit and determination to defeat sides like Pakistan and England.
Even in the T20 World Cup last year, the side reached the semi-finale and were mentally so strong that they never feared any opposition and it needed a strong South African side to stop their juggernaut. If the Afghans play with the same fighting spirit, don’t be surprised if they reach the knockout round of the tournament.
Afghanistan squad for Champions Trophy 2025 : Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran.