Afghanistan will take part in the Champions Trophy for the first time in their history as one of the eight teams involved in the 2025 edition of the tournament, which begins in Pakistan on February 19.
They will play against Australia, England and South Africa in Group B, with the potential of facing Bangladesh, India, New Zealand or Pakistan if they progress to the semi-finals.
Afghanistan will open their Champions Trophy account on Friday 21 February, when they face South Africa in Karachi at 09:00 GMT.
Here is an in-depth round-up of Afghanistan’s form, their key player and more.
Champions Trophy history
This tournament will be the first time Afghanistan play in the Champions Trophy after missing out on the previous eight editions.
They only gained ODI status in 2011 and won their first match by 89 runs against Scotland.
They did not qualify for the 2013 and 2017 editions of the competition as they were not ranked as one of the top eight ODI teams in the world at the time.
They have qualified for this year’s tournament as they finished sixth at the 2023 World Cup, with the top eight teams qualifying.
That was their third ODI World Cup they have featured in. In 2015, they finished sixth out of seven teams in Pool A, with their only win coming against Scotland.
In 2019, they lost all nine of their games to finish last in the 10-team group stage.
They improved a lot in 2023 as they beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands. They only missed out on the semi-finals by two points.
ODI form
Afghanistan are currently ranked as the eighth best ODI team in the world by the ICC.
Since the 2019 World Cup, they have played 14 bilateral ODI series and have won eight.
They failed to qualify from the group stage of the Asia Cup in 2023.
However, they are currently unbeaten in their last four series, stretching back to March 2024, with an aggregate score of 8-2.
They have beaten Ireland, South Africa and Bangladesh in series that have been played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and most recently beat Zimbabwe away from home in December.
Squad
Afghanistan will be led by 30-year-old batter Hashmatullah Shahidi, who took over as captain at the start of the 2023 World Cup.
He made his ODI debut in 2013 and has scored 2,085 runs in 73 games at an average of 34.18. He is yet to score a century in the format and has a high score of 97 not out.
However, he has two Test match double-centuries with the most recent coming against Zimbabwe in December when he made 246.
He will work alongside former English batter Jonathan Trott, who has been head coach of the national team since July 2022. As a player, he scored almost 7,000 runs across all formats and made 11 centuries.
Afghanistan’s star player Rashid Khan is currently ranked as the world’s best ODI bowler, having taken 198 wickets in 111 games at an average of 19.87.
Their highest-ranked batter is opener Rahmanullah Gubraz, who is joint-eighth with West Indies’ Shai Hope.
Since his debut in 2021, he has scored 1,769 runs in 46 matches at an average of 39.31, with eight hundreds.
Full squad:
Batters – Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ibrahim Zadran
Wicket-keepers – Ikram Alikhil, Rahmanullah Gurbaz
All-rounders – Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai
Fast bowlers – Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran
Spinners – Noor Ahmad, Allah Ghazanfar
Afghanistan have also named three reserves: Darwish Rasooli (batter), Bilal Sami (fast bowler) and Nangialai Kharoti (spinner).
Key player
As he has been for years and years, Rashid Khan will be Afghanistan’s biggest factor in being successful or not.
Since making his international debut in 2015, he’s taken 404 wickets across all formats for his country and at the age of only 26 could play for at least another decade.
The leg-spinner is world class and recently broke the record for most T20 wickets ever by overtaking Dwayne Bravo’s 631.
He also captained MI Cape Town to their inaugural SA20 title last week, taking 12 wickets in 11 games at an average of 21.58.
Since the 2023 World Cup, he has played eight ODIs and taken 15 wickets, averaging 12.46.
At the T20 World Cup last year, Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav, who has four T20I hundreds, said how hard it is to face Rashid: “When he bowls it’s very difficult to pick him, so I know what shots I want to play when I am inside. The best bowler in the world, you can’t let him dominate, you have to be a step ahead.”
Rashid will lead the Afghanistan bowling attack in the tournament and will be the man that captain Shahidi turns to when he needs a crucial wicket.
One to watch
Afghanistan’s newest talent to burst onto the international stage is Allah Ghazanfar.
The off-spinner is only 18-years-old but has already taken 21 ODI wickets in 11 matches at an average of 13.57, including best figures of 6/26 against Bangladesh.
He made his debut aged 17 against Ireland in March last year and was subsequently signed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL.
He was bought by Mumbai Indians in the 2025 draft for INR 4.8 Crore (£443,000) and made his Test debut in December.
The youngster is likely to be in Afghanistan’s first-choice team and could surprise batters with his skill and relative unknown ability to be one of the players of the tournament.
Prediction
Afghanistan could be a dark horse in the tournament but face a tough task to qualify due to the quality of teams in their group.
Although they could likely beat England who are in poor form, Australia and South Africa will probably be too strong for them and will qualify for the semi-finals.
Despite that, Afghanistan could come close to qualifying and it will give their players a chance to make a name for themselves on the international stage.
Prediction – Group stage