Courtesy: Google/ICC
Afghanistan got a solid win against England in the group stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This places them third in the table just one point behind Australia and South Africa, still charged with the hopes of entering the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. Their last match of the group stage will be a do-or-die encounter against heavyweights Australia on February 28. Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi spoke to the press ahead of their match and here are some insights from that discussion.
When a reporter asked Shaidi about Afghanistan’s chances of playing in the semi-final, the captain replied by saying, "Our focus will be to keep things simple and not worry much about playing the semi-finals, we will try to do our basics well and we will try to come to the ground with good planning." Another reporter asked Shahidi about Afghanistan’s plan to contain Maxwell to which the skipper boldly replied, "You think we will come to only play against Maxwell? Do you think it will be like that? We have planned for the entire Australian team… I know he played well in the 2023 World Cup but that’s a part of history."
Afghanistan to relive horrors of their past?
Afghanistan have played Australia four times in ODI matches and have ended up losing all of them. However the most recent encounter among these two will be the one which is remembered most by fans. In the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India, Afghanistan suffered a loss to Australia at the Wankhede Stadium courtesy to an iconic innings of 201 not out off 121 balls by Glenn Maxwell, who was suffering from severe cramps during his innings, but still managed to heroically finish the job for his team. The loss prevented Afghanistan from progressing to the semi-finals of that World Cup.
A similar scenario stands in front of them now as they have to beat Australia in order to qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-finals. The Afghanistan team will receive a boost by the fact that they had beaten this Australian side in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Nevertheless, this fixture won’t be easy for either of the teams as they will have to give it their all to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
